Oldest fossil ever found on Earth dating back 4.2bn years shows alien life on Mars is likely

Stock image University of Hertfordshire/PA Wire

Sarah Knapton
© Telegraph Media Group Limited

It’s life, but not as we know it. The oldest fossil ever discovered on Earth shows that organisms were thriving 4.2 billion years ago, hundreds of millions of years earlier than previously thought.

The microscopic bacteria, which were smaller than the width of a human hair, were found in rock formations in Quebec, Canada, but would have lived in hot vents in the 140F (60C) oceans which covered the early planet.