Trevor Posted October 5, 2018 Share Posted October 5, 2018 Dear FossilForum goers, I am wondering if anyone could provide me with information on the what the simplest or oldest fossils found are. There seem to be conflicting reports on the internet and I feel that this is a good platform to get answers. I am trying to do more research on and thinking about the origins of life and may purchase so of these fossils. Just a cool hobby or personal project of mine. If anyone has their own ideas on how life began please feel free to share, I really want to access the full scope of thought on one of the most interesting unanswered questions. Kind regards, Trevor : ) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ynot Posted October 6, 2018 Share Posted October 6, 2018 Cyanobacteria is the oldest life form I have heard of. Fossils of Cyanobacteria are rare and microscopic. Darwin said: " Man sprang from monkeys." Will Rogers said: " Some of them didn't spring far enough." My Fossil collection - My Mineral collection My favorite thread on TFF. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caldigger Posted October 6, 2018 Share Posted October 6, 2018 Here's a case chuck full of bacteria. Pretty impressive show huh?! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ynot Posted October 6, 2018 Share Posted October 6, 2018 21 minutes ago, caldigger said: Here's a case chuck full of bacteria. Pretty impressive show huh?! Yeah, but are any of them really fossilized? Darwin said: " Man sprang from monkeys." Will Rogers said: " Some of them didn't spring far enough." My Fossil collection - My Mineral collection My favorite thread on TFF. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bcfossilcollector Posted October 6, 2018 Share Posted October 6, 2018 2 hours ago, ynot said: Cyanobacteria is the oldest life form I have heard of. Fossils of Cyanobacteria are rare and microscopic. Agree. The earliest known fossils of Cyanobacteria date to at least 3.5 billion years ago. It seems the dates for the first appearance of life on earth are gradually being pushed back, as new evidence emerges, to even earlier points in time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raggedy Man Posted October 6, 2018 Share Posted October 6, 2018 Gotta love those little guys! ...I'm back. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wrangellian Posted October 6, 2018 Share Posted October 6, 2018 Used to be the 3.5byo microfossils from Western Aus. were the oldest, though the biogenicity of the fossils themselves was debated. More recently, it's 3.7byo stromatolites from the Isua Greenstone Belt in Greenland: https://www.nature.com/articles/nature19355 Wish I could get my hands on a chunk of either one! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ludwigia Posted October 6, 2018 Share Posted October 6, 2018 Check out this rubrick You'll certainly find some helpful information there. Greetings from the Lake of Constance. Roger http://www.steinkern.de/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Amateur Paleontologist Posted October 6, 2018 Share Posted October 6, 2018 Wait a minute... wasn't there reported last year 3.85 b. y. o. biogenic (possibly) graphite and methane deposits from the island of Akilia (Greenland)? -Christian Opalised fossils are the best: a wonderful mix between paleontology and mineralogy! Q. Where do dinosaurs study? A. At Khaan Academy!... My ResearchGate profile Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trevor Posted October 6, 2018 Author Share Posted October 6, 2018 2 hours ago, The Amateur Paleontologist said: Wait a minute... wasn't there reported last year 3.85 b. y. o. biogenic (possibly) graphite and methane deposits from the island of Akilia (Greenland)? -Christian Maybe, I am going to try to find a source for this. 5 hours ago, Ludwigia said: Check out this rubrick You'll certainly find some helpful information there. I looked over the News already and I find I article using key word searched but I had unfortunately found it on Science Daily already. 6 hours ago, Wrangellian said: Used to be the 3.5byo microfossils from Western Aus. were the oldest, though the biogenicity of the fossils themselves was debated. More recently, it's 3.7byo stromatolites from the Isua Greenstone Belt in Greenland: https://www.nature.com/articles/nature19355 Wish I could get my hands on a chunk of either one! This is the predominant theory going around - Stromatolites : ) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Amateur Paleontologist Posted October 6, 2018 Share Posted October 6, 2018 @Trevor Sorry.. I was mistaken - the deposits weren't from Greenland, they were from Labrador (Canada). Here's a link to the Nature article describing these remains of methane and graphite -Christian Opalised fossils are the best: a wonderful mix between paleontology and mineralogy! Q. Where do dinosaurs study? A. At Khaan Academy!... My ResearchGate profile Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anomotodon Posted October 11, 2018 Share Posted October 11, 2018 Let me add that the first multicellular organisms are likely older that we thought - in 2017 were published the remains of 2.4 billion year old fungus-like mycelia (essentially molds of branching and anostomosing threads - potential mycelia). This research is sometimes considered controversial however personally I find their arguments compelling enough. Surprisingly, these structures appeared right after (or even during) Great Oxygenation event - a very important milestone in the early evolution of life. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41559-017-0141 The Tooth Fairy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Olenellus Posted October 16, 2018 Share Posted October 16, 2018 Trevor: There is speculation that the earliest life forms on Earth are fossilized organisms found in hydrothermal vent precipitates between 3.77 and 4.28 billion years ago. However, it is unknown just exactly when the first draft of life appeared on our planet. That said and with speculation swept aside, the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science have publicized the direct evidence of microorganisms permineralized in 3.426 billion year old Australian chert. This same claim and others, which I have read about on the web and seen on the Nova and Discovery channels, are likely based upon the academy's findings. Until scientists find an older site, Australia, which many scientists consider to be the most ancient continent, is the birthplace of life on earth. The attachment below showcases these earliest known fossils. ---- Olenellus Olenellus Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wrangellian Posted October 17, 2018 Share Posted October 17, 2018 9 hours ago, Olenellus said: Trevor: There is speculation that the earliest life forms on Earth are fossilized organisms found in hydrothermal vent precipitates between 3.77 and 4.28 billion years ago. However, it is unknown just exactly when the first draft of life appeared on our planet. That said and with speculation swept aside, the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science have publicized the direct evidence of microorganisms permineralized in 3.426 billion year old Australian chert. This same claim and others, which I have read about on the web and seen on the Nova and Discovery channels, are likely based upon the academy's findings. Until scientists find an older site, Australia, which many scientists consider to be the most ancient continent, is the birthplace of life on earth. The attachment below showcases these earliest known fossils. ---- Olenellus Where do you get those numbers, 3.77 and 4.28 billion? I'd like to read whatever paper that came from. I think the stromatolite specimens from Greenland are more than just speculation. Also I've read that there is some doubt about the biological nature of the Australian specimens though I tend to think they are fossils, myself. Western Australia and the Canadian Shield are comparably ancient. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DPS Ammonite Posted October 17, 2018 Share Posted October 17, 2018 https://www.nature.com/articles/nature21377 Matthew S. Dodd, Dominic Papineau, Tor Grenne, John F. Slack, Martin Rittner, Franco Pirajno, Jonathan O’Neil, Crispin T. S. Little. Evidence for early life in Earth’s oldest hydrothermal vent precipitates. Nature, 2017; 543 (7643): 60 DOI: 10.1038/nature21377 http://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/1536298/1/Dodd_et_al_2017_Nature_accepted.pdf My goal is to leave no stone or fossil unturned. See my Arizona Paleontology Guide link The best single resource for Arizona paleontology anywhere. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Olenellus Posted October 17, 2018 Share Posted October 17, 2018 Voila! DPS Ammonite. That matches my own data. There is a bibliography for this claim shown in Wikipedia. Olenellus Olenellus Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doushantuo Posted October 18, 2018 Share Posted October 18, 2018 http://paleoitalia.org/media/attachments/news_news/164/01_Westall_2016_BSPI_552.pdf Bollettino della Società Paleontologica Italiana, 55 (2), 2016, 85-103. Modena ISSN 0375-7633 doi:10.4435/BSPI.2016.09 Microbial palaeontology and the origin of life: a personal approach Frances Westall F. Westall, CNRS-Centre de Biophysique Moléculaire, Rue Charles Sadron, CS 80054, Orléans cedex 2, France; frances.westall@cnrs-orleans.fr Microbial palaeontology and the origin of life: a personal approach Frances Westall F. Westall, CNRS-Centre de Biophysique Moléculaire, Rue Charles Sadron, CS 80054, Orléans cedex ABOUT 4,5 Mb,and worth your while! Like e.g. Walter,Schopf,Knoll,Butterfield,Frances Westall is great in elucidating the links between taphonomic processes and microbiota Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wrangellian Posted October 18, 2018 Share Posted October 18, 2018 On 10/16/2018 at 11:52 PM, DPS Ammonite said: https://www.nature.com/articles/nature21377 Matthew S. Dodd, Dominic Papineau, Tor Grenne, John F. Slack, Martin Rittner, Franco Pirajno, Jonathan O’Neil, Crispin T. S. Little. Evidence for early life in Earth’s oldest hydrothermal vent precipitates. Nature, 2017; 543 (7643): 60 DOI: 10.1038/nature21377 http://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/1536298/1/Dodd_et_al_2017_Nature_accepted.pdf Thanks much. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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