Fossil or faux pas? A 2016 study that interpreted rock anomalies as the oldest evidence of life on our planet got it wrong, say researchers behind a new analysis of some of the same rock. The deformities aren’t relics of early microbial life, says the team, but rather a snapshot of geological forces shaping and reshaping our world.
Oldest Trace Fossils Ever Found Might Not Be Fossils
Trace fossils indicating the first signs life on Earth or just deformed rock? Researchers previously interpreted several anomalies (yellow arrows) found in 3.7 billion-year-old rock as the oldest evidence of life, but a new study, which focused on one portion of the sample (blue box), questions the previous findings. (Credit Allwood et al 2018)
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