Ether lipids from the Lower and Middle Triassic at Qingyan, Guizhou Province, Southern China

► Ether lipids occur in Lower-Middle Triassic sediments (Qingyan, Guizhou Province, SW China). ► Represent oldest occurrence of such lipids, including archaeol and non-isoprenoid DAGEs and MAGEs). ► Archaeol derives from archaea and DAGEs and MAGEs are likely from sulfate-reducing bacteria (SRB). ► SRB might have contributed to a contemporaneous euxinic ocean in the Early Triassic.