Scots unearth clues of earliest life on Earth

Published on Wednesday 10 March 2010 21:58

SCOTTISH scientists have uncovered startling new evidence that the earliest forms of life on Earth could have survived a massive meteor bombardment four billion years ago.

Until now scientists have been convinced that primitive life on Earth could not have survived the so-called "heavy bombardment" that also left the moon scarred by giant impact craters which are still visible today, and that several cycles of evolution might have taken place before simple organisms finally took a permanent hold.

But studies of an ancient microbe – thought to be amongst the earliest to inhabit Earth – have revealed for the first time that primitive life could have endured the massive meteor shower by surviving underground.

The discovery was made by academics from Aberdeen University and the Scottish Universities Environmental Research Centre.