The world’s oldest fossil, more than 3.7 billion years old, has been discovered. Video

The fossil could be up to 4.3 billion years old, and was discovered thanks to a team of scientists who proved the ancient nature of the find.

The fossil was discovered in Quebec, Canada, more precisely in Novoagitok supracortical belt (National Security Agency). This area is rich in sedimentary rocks (it was part of a deep-sea iron-rich hydrothermal vent system). The oldest life forms on Earth formed in this habitat between 3.77 and 4.3 billion years ago.

Discovery

the fossil discovery It supports the idea that life emerged from underground sources of warm water shortly after the formation of planet Earth. Prior to this discovery, the oldest Microfossils Discovered in Western Australia, they date back 3.46 billion years. Some scientists believe they could be non-biological artifacts in the rocks. That’s precisely why the team in Canada’s priority was to determine whether the remains were biological in origin. The researchers examined threads made of hematite, a form of iron oxide or “rust.” If this could have been achieved in some way, non-biological ways, such as changes in temperature and pressure in the rocks, they might have been able to determine whether the remains were biological in origin.

They found that the mineralized fossils are associated with spherical structures that typically contain fossils in younger rocks. The fact that they discovered them in one of the oldest known rock formations suggests that they have found evidence of one of the earliest forms of life on Earth. This discovery helps us piece together the history of our planet and its extraordinary life, and will help identify traces of life in other parts of the universe. These results show that life evolved on Earth at a time when liquid water was present on the surfaces of Mars and our planet, raising exciting questions about life beyond Earth. The hope is to find evidence of life on Mars. It dates back 4 billion years. (The discovery of this fossil gives us hope), otherwise the Earth might have been an exception.

source