Life on Earth – now older than we thought

In a blow for creationists, the earliest known fossils are now 220 million years older – with implications for start for the first life on Earth.

The oldest known fossils – dating back 3.7 billion years to a time when the Earth was still being bombarded by asteroids – have been found in Greenland, scientists announced in a discovery that could have “staggering” implications.

Rocks recently exposed after a once-permanent layer of snow melted were found to contain stromatolites, sediments the researchers said had been created by the growth of layer upon layer of micro-organisms.

If confirmed as evidence of life, they are about 220 million years older than the previous record holder and the researchers said the “sophistication” of the microbes pointed to life on Earth beginning more than four billion years ago.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/oldest-fossils-world-alien-life-earth-mars-greenland-a7218191.html