Fossils called stromatolites from Western Australia were created by microbes 3.48 billion years ago.
Layered rocks in Western Australia are some of Earth's earliest known life, according to a new study.
However, billions of years have wiped away traces of organic matter in these older stromatolites, raising questions about whether they were really formed by microbes or whether they might have been made by other geological processes.
What they saw hinted at biological growth in all its messy glory. The researchers observed uneven layers, including little dome shapes that are indicative of photosynthesis, since microbes with the most access to the sun will grow more vigorously than those not as high in the structure. They also saw columnar structures that are typical in modern stromatolites, which are still found in a few locations around the globe.
Martian microbes? The evidence that the Dresser Formation stromatolites are signs of ancient life doesn't make them the oldest life on the planet. That honor may go to stromatolites found in 3.7 billion-year-old rock in Greenland, or possibly to microfossils from Canada that might be as old as 4.29 billion years.
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