When did Life on Earth Evolve? ABSTRACT This article is concerned with when life first evolved. This is achieved by looking at known evolved life, such as Stromatolites found in both Australia from 3.5 Ga and Greenland from 3.8 Ga. This evidence of previous life means retrospective data of carbon isotopes (C12 & C13) found in precursing rocks can show where biotic life first appeared, the time length to when this life evolved, as well as where this life came from. INTRODUCTION Earth was formed around 4.6 Ga ago. Since then the earth’s atmosphere has changed considerably over the next few billion years until the present era. The first million years of earth’s history was filled by meteor bombardments from debris throughout our solar system, which is likely to have suppressed life from forming up until 3.8 Ga ago (Nisbet and Sleep, 2001). This article will thus focus around the 3.8 Ga era, since life is unlikely to have formed before 4 Ga. The aim of the article to ascertain when life started to evolve supported by both hard evidence and newfound evidence yet to be accepted globally. EVIDENCE Life began at least 3.5 Ga ago, in a period known as the Archaean (see fig.1). Archaean rock samples are rare to find and it must be stated that evidence shown here is not a true representative of life in the Archaean, but a window for interpretation by scientists. Stromatolites Stromatolites are one of the oldest fossils, dating back to approximately 3.3-3.8 Ga, . Research led by
When life arose on Earth about 4 billion years ago, the first types of cells to evolve were prokaryotic cells. For approximately 2 billion years, prokaryotic-type cells were the only form of life on Earth. The oldest known sedimentary rocks found in Greenland are about 3.8 billion years old. The oldest known fossils are prokaryotic cells, 3.5 billion years in age, found in Western Australia and South Africa. The nature of these fossils, and the chemical composition of the rocks in which they are found, indicates that these first cells made use of simple chemical reactions to produce energy for their metabolism and growth. Eukaryotic cells evolved into being between 1.5 and 2 billion years ago. Eukaryotic cells appear to have arisen from prokaryotic cells, specifically out of the archaea. Indeed, there are many similarities in molecular biology of contemporary archaea and eukaryotes. However, the origin of the eukaryotic organelles, specifically chloroplasts and mitochondria, is explained by evolutionary associations between primitive nucleated cells and certain respiratory and photosynthetic bacteria, which led to the development of these organelles and the associated explosion of eukaryotic diversity. Today Prokaryotes
The author and his colleagues specifically chose to focus on 375 million year old rocks in their search for fossils because this was the time frame that provided fish that would be useful to study from. The 385 million year old rocks provided fish that look too similar to the ones we have now and the 365 million year old rocks have fossils that don’t resemble fish. The 375 million year old rocks, however, provide fossils that show the transition between fish and land living animals.
Describe the important chemistry of early earth and how this may have given rise to life forms.
The oldest fossil was the microfossils known to be found in Australia by a group from the University of Western Australia and Oxford University. The tiny fossils showed credible indication for cells and bacteria living in an oxygen free world over 3.4 billion years ago.
In order to find evidence of the transition from fish to land animals, the author and his colleagues chose to focus on 375 million year old rocks. In 2004, they studied sedimentary rock on Ellesmere Island in Canada’s Arctic as they thought that the rocks there would be exposed and untouched by humans, which would be ideal for fossil excavations. They studied sedimentary rocks (limestone, sandstone, siltstone and shales) because these
Evidence for life on early Earth (e.g. in the Pre Cambrian) has proved difficult to find because: SELECT ALL THAT APPLY Select one or more: A. rocks from these early times are rare due to the recycling of the Earth's crust through plate tectonics B. there was no oxygen in the Earth's atmosphere at this time C. life at this time lacked hard parts (such as shells or bones) that fossilise easily D. life had not yet emerged onto land E. life at this time was mostly microbial
Assumptions: “Life existed on earth for hundreds of millions of years before species evolved that
Chemical evolution is the main exploratory clarification for the birthplace of life. Like every scientific theory, the hypothesis of chemical evolution has an example part that makes a case about the common world and a procedure segment that clarifies that patter. The example part is that notwithstanding little atoms, complex carbon-containing substances exist and are needed forever. The procedure part is that in Earths early history, straightforward concoction mixes consolidated to frame more mind boggling carbon-containing substances before the advancement of life. The hypothesis keeps up that inputs of vitality prompted the development of progressively complex carbon-containing substances, coming full circle in an intensify that could recreate
Through her extensive work, Mary Anning’s discoveries provided factual evidence to support the theories of evolution and extinction, resulting to an increased understanding and in-depth knowledge of the structure and nature of extinct creatures from early pre-historic Earth. Scientists and the general public during this era were skeptical of the idea that organisms could be extinct and/or change structurally over the years through natural selection, however, the discovery of the bizarre fossils found by Mary Anning became evidence for these ideas. Through Mary Anning’s legacy, modern-day scientists have now discovered even more evidence that supports the ideas and theories that were suggested during the 1800’s. From result of the discoveries of Mary Anning, our current understanding of the history of life on Earth has developed drastically through her contribution to paleontology and the discoveries of fossil evidence for organisms of early
The old-Earth evolution and young-Earth creation debate has been one that has gone on for centuries. Each viewpoint seeks to give an answer to life’s most difficult questions or origins and how the Earth came to be what it resembles today. While the Young Earth viewpoint has remained constant and unchanged throughout the centuries the Old Earth view seems to be continually evolving as new discoveries tend to discredit previous assumptions. One certainty is that both viewpoints take a dogmatic stance against each other in regards to the interpretation of scientific evidence. The purpose of this paper is to compare old-Earth and
L. Vardiman, A.A. Snelling and E.F. Chaffin (Eds.), Radioisotopes and the Age of the Earth: Results of a Young-Earth Creationist Research Initiative, Institute for Creation Research, Santee, California, and Creation Research Society, St. Joseph, Missouri, 2000.
Most of us are familiar with the panspermia hypothesis – that life can be “seeded” from asteroid, comet, and planetoid contents – but to date, no direct evidence has been discovered. So, why should we consider meteorites to be possible parents? The truth is out there somewhere and these space rocks contain the essentials, as far down as to amino acids. Until now, what has been recovered has been regarded as structured. However, the matter of Tagish Lake arose.
The author and his colleagues chose to focus on 375 million year old rocks in their search for fossils because amphibians that look dissimilar to fish were discovered in 365 million year old rocks, while fish without amphibian characteristics were discovered in 385 million year old rocks. Thus, it is possible that the evolutionary intermediary, or the “missing link” between fish and amphibians, would be discovered in 375 million year old rocks, between the two time periods. The rocks examined were sedimentary in composition, as the gradual and relatively gentle formation of sedimentary rock under conditions of mild pressure and low heat are conducive to the fossilization of animal remains. Sedimentary rock is also often formed in rivers and seas, where animals are likely to live. This site provides a resource that describes means by which fossils are formed and how the fossil record may be interpreted, and shows some examples of fossils demonstrating evolution through geological periods: http://www.fossilmuseum.net/fossilrecord.htm. In 2004, Shubin and his colleagues were looking for fossils on Ellesmere Island, in northern Canada. This location was chosen because of its lack of human development, as well as of obstructing natural formations and life forms such as trees, which
Life has continually perplexed and fascinated individuals since the dawn of mankind. The subject’s complexity is so great even over the course of human existence only a minute fraction of its mysteries have been unraveled. A phenomenon which has always intrigued scientists is the origin of life on Earth, and in recent years significant advancements have been made in the understanding of this enigma. This essay will briefly outline two theories regarding life’s origin on Earth to further comprehend why an explanation for this phenomenon has been so difficult to reach.
According to astronomical research and geological evidence, scientist indicate the universe is approximately thirteen thousand eight hundred and twenty billion years old. The first link to humanity started with a primate group called Ardipithecus. While our ancestors have been around for about six million years, the modern form of humans only evolved about two hundred thousand years ago. The age of the Earth is estimated about four point fifty four billion years because that is the age of the oldest rocks with fossil evidence of life on earth. The oldest rocks on Earth found to date are the Acasta Gneisses in northwestern Canada near the Great Slave Lake, which are four point three billion years old. The study of the origin of life on Earth, more specifically abiogenesis, is the natural process of life arising from non-living matter. Life on Earth is believed to have began from organic compounds about three point eight to four billion years ago. Despite several competing theories for how life arose on Earth scientist only know when life first appeared on Earth and are still far from answering how it appeared. Since it is hard to prove or disprove them, no fully accepted theories of the origin of life exists.