Ancient rocks hold evidence for life before oxygen
Tuesday, November 29, 2016 - 15:31
in Paleontology & Archaeology
Somewhere between Earth's creation and where we are today, scientists have demonstrated that some early life forms existed just fine without any oxygen. The 2.52 billion-year-old sulfur-oxidizing bacteria are exceptionally large, spherical-shaped, smooth-walled microscopic structures much larger than most modern bacteria, but similar to some modern single-celled organisms that live in deepwater sulfur-rich ocean settings today, where even now there are almost no traces of oxygen.