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Palaeontology

3.4 billion-year-old fossils discovered

By T.K. Randall
August 22, 2011 · Comment icon 16 comments

Image Credit: David Wacey
Geologists have unearthed fossilized single cell organisms that lived over 3 billion years ago.
The fossils are believed to be the oldest ever found and confirm the suspected timescale at which life evolved on the planet soon after the "late heavy bombardment" around 3.85 billion years ago.
The new microfossils are described in Sunday’s issue of Nature Geoscience by a team led by David Wacey of the University of Western Australia and Martin D. Brasier of the University of Oxford. The fossils were found in sandstone at the base of the Strelley Pool rock formation in Western Australia.


Source: New York Times | Comments (16)




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Recent comments on this story
Comment icon #7 Posted by javelin 13 years ago
"Their assertion, if sustained" I'll wait for some sustain thanks. These modern scientists are always making claims of oldest this or that, its all about "fortune and glory Short Stop, fortune and glory". Just the now standard scientific grandstanding in hopes of getting big funding. Nothing more. "the geologists have gathered considerable circumstantial evidence" Duh gee, circumstantial is no where near proved status. Not even in courts of law. "Nature Geoscience article published on Sunday does not claim discovery of the earth’s oldest microfossils" In short, a lot of hullabaloo and brave ... [More]
Comment icon #8 Posted by javelin 13 years ago
Dr. Buick said: “You’ve got to realize how divisive this microfossil war has been over the last decade. Most people just want it to be over. If claim and counterclaim go back and forth for a decade, it sounds like we don’t know what we’re doing.” Wow. That could be because they really don't know what they're doing. rotfl
Comment icon #9 Posted by Alienated Being 13 years ago
B-but... God put us here...
Comment icon #10 Posted by marharthm 13 years ago
"Duh gee, circumstantial is no where near proved status. Not even in courts of law." You go get all of dem bibiole hators! We jesus lovin' people know that the only evidence we don be needin' is the bible! "As always the Darwinist posers are out in great numbers asserting this or that based on faulty methodology and believing everything they read on the Web. Pitiful." Dats right! Teh bible done be a much better sourc then these fancies science stuff. "Are we likely to ever know? No. As always don't let the public know the paleontologists' "dirty little secret"." RIGHt again! Clearly dem planta... [More]
Comment icon #11 Posted by Timonthy 13 years ago
I knew Australia was good for something...
Comment icon #12 Posted by psyche101 13 years ago
I knew Australia was good for something... Yeah, meat pies, kangaroos and holden's, You ought to know that, even if you are a mexican!
Comment icon #13 Posted by psyche101 13 years ago
Whilst this is amazing news, it is not unbelievable at all. Stromatolites have been dated to that extent before. It has crept out a bit, but not to some astounding extent. Microbially influenced formation of 2,724-million-year-old stromatolites Laminated accretionary carbonate structures known as stromatolites are a prominent feature of the sedimentary record over the past 3,500 Myr (ref. 1). The macroscopic similarity to modern microbial structures has led to the inference that these structures represent evidence of ancient life
Comment icon #14 Posted by StoneSmasher 13 years ago
Wow marhathm, you are a shining example of whats wrong with this world. Believe what you will, but at least be civil about it. Hard to argue for rationality when you submit to such a crude way of getting your point across. If you are going to attack christians for an irrational position, then try not to use logical fallacies in your arguement.
Comment icon #15 Posted by hpamdmonster 13 years ago
"Duh gee, circumstantial is no where near proved status. Not even in courts of law." You go get all of dem bibiole hators! We jesus lovin' people know that the only evidence we don be needin' is the bible! "As always the Darwinist posers are out in great numbers asserting this or that based on faulty methodology and believing everything they read on the Web. Pitiful." Dats right! Teh bible done be a much better sourc then these fancies science stuff. "Are we likely to ever know? No. As always don't let the public know the paleontologists' "dirty little secret"." RIGHt again! Clearly dem planta... [More]
Comment icon #16 Posted by Atlantis Rises 13 years ago
ignorance is bliss?


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