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Are the Oldest Fossils Real - Or Just Rocks?

Scientists disagree about whether a sample of ancient rocks shows evidence of life.

By Bridget Alex
May 7, 2019 5:00 AMDec 13, 2019 7:44 PM
3.7 billion year old fossil or rock, Greenland - Allwood
The triangular shapes at the bottom of this Greenland rock may be ancient fossils — or not. (Courtesy of Abigail Allwood)

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It’s a matter of life or no life. In a 2016 Nature study, researchers reported finding fossils in 3.7 billion-year-old rocks in Greenland, pushing the timeline for Earth’s first preserved organisms back 200 million years.

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