INDIA: 2 BILLION-YEAR-OLD FOSSILS OF EARTH'S EARLIEST LIFE FORM DISCOVERED

[Judi Lynn]

BY KASTALIA MEDRANO ON 11/25/17 AT 7:10 AM

A scientist in India found microfossils that have been dated to be a staggering 2 billion years old. The prokaryotic fossils represent the planet’s oldest-known form of life.

Naresh Ghose, a Bengaluru-based geologist, made the discovery on the Indian subcontinent in the Gwalior basin of the Bundelkhand region near Jhansi. He reported the findings at the recent annual convention of the Indian Geological Congress in Nagpur.

Microfossils refer to fossils smaller than 1 millimeter in size and which require a microscope to study. According to the Indo-Asian News Service, Ghose told the convention audience that the shape of these particular microfossils, along with the pattern in which they were distributed, strongly suggest they belonged to a micro-organism.



A prokaryotic bacteria cell.
WIKIPEDIA

Prokaryotes are bacteria, usually single-celled, and without a nucleus. They were the planet’s only life form for most of its history, explains Jere H. Lipps, Director of the University of California Museum of Paleontology, in an explainer for the museum's website. They first arose about 3.5 billion years ago, though what happened after that, in terms of when exactly they began to evolve into eukaryotes, or more complex forms of life, is unclear. Prokaryotes have been found in rocks as old as 3 billion years; earlier this year, scientists discovered 1.6 billion-year-old eukaryotes in a sedimentary basin in central India.

More:
http://www.newsweek.com/india-fossil-microfossil-bacteria-evolution-2-billion-years-722014

[Beartracks]

1. Confused: Why is it incredible to find 2 bil-yr-old prokaryote fossils...

... if they've already been found in 3.5 bil-yr-old rocks?



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[Beakybird]

2. The fossil in the 3.5 billion year old rock was 1.6 years old.

I love this stuff. I wish they could bring this life form back. I would want one as a pet as it already comes with a leash. Oh, it's microscopic. Never mind.

[msongs]

3. look what india has become bazillions of reincarnations later nt