Stromatolites at dawn, Shark Bay, Western Australia.
Credit: Mint Images/REX/Shutterstock

Scientists have discovered the oldest physical evidence for life on the planet in the form of fossils in Greenland rocks that formed 3.7bn years ago. (emphasis added)

The researchers believe the structures in the rocks are stromatolites – layered formations, produced by the activity of microbes, that can be found today in extremely saline lagoons in a few locations around the world.

The new fossils are 220 million years older than any previously discovered.

“Up until now the oldest stromatolites have been from Western Australia and they are roughly 3,500 million (3.5bn) years [old],” said Clark Friend, an independent researcher and co-author of the research. “What we are doing is pushing the discovery of life earlier in Earth’s history.”

The discovery, says Friend, also raises questions about the possibility of life on other planets.

“If we have got life at 3,700 million (3.7 bn) years on Earth, did it exist on other planets […]