The 3.7-billion-year-old fossil signals life on Mars

One of the oldest fossils in the world, dating back 3.7 billion years and has just been found, may indicate life exists on Mars.

Scientists have discovered the oldest physical evidence of life on Earth , a fossil in Greenland formed 3.7 billion years ago.

3.7-billion-year-old fossil rocks are found in the Isua ice sheet, southwest of Greenland.

This astonishing finding reinforces the hypothesis of life on other planets and can explain what happened at the time of life's beginning on Earth.

Fossils have just been found in Isua, southwest of Greenland.Fossils contain stromatolite , a sedimentary layer created by the growth of microorganisms.

If confirmed this is evidence of life, this fossil is older than the previous record 220 million years.

One of the fossil researchers, Clark Friend, said: "Until now, the oldest stromatolite rock was found in Western Australia about 3.5 billion years old."

3.5 billion year old fossil rocks in Western Australia.

"If the Earth had a life of 3.7 billion years ago, life could exist on other planets at that time. For example, 3.7 billion years ago, Mars still had water."

Writing in Nature, the team comes from Australia and the UK, stating that stromatolite fossils develop "in shallow water" in Isua.

Researchers say fossils are a suggestion that suggests that at that time, the Earth had a peaceful climate, probably because of the atmosphere that contained lots of carbon dioxide and / or methane.

Scientists hold a fossil specimen in their hands for testing.

Dr. Abigail Allwood, from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, said fossils could explain what happened at the beginning of life on Earth.

She asked: "Does life on this planet begin only after the very long evolution of the Earth, waiting for the appropriate environment for life to emerge, or the cradle of life that has been available since New Earth is a "newborn"? "

She also believes that the newly discovered fossil may have important implications for finding extraterrestrial life.

Fossil stone surface 3.7 billion years old.

"If this is really a sign of our first ancestors, it will have incredible effects," writes Dr. Allwood.

If life appears at the new phase of Earth's formation, it is not something less feasible, she said.

"Our understanding of the nature of universal life is based on how long it takes the Earth to form conditions for life. And after this new discovery, Mars can become a much more promising place than before, a potential planet for life in the past. "

Newly found fossils may be a sign that life once existed on Mars.