News > 3.42-Billion-Year-Old Filamentous Microfossils Found in South Africa

3.42-Billion-Year-Old Filamentous Microfossils Found in South Africa

16/07/2021 09:45 PM | Click to read full article

Paleontologists have discovered the exceptionally well-preserved, 3.42-billion-year-old filamentous microfossils in a paleo-subseafloor hydrothermal vein system in what is now South Africa; the filaments colonized the walls of conduits created by low-temperature hydrothermal fluid; combined with their morphological and chemical characteristics.

 They can be considered the oldest methane-cycling microorganisms, most likely methanogens.

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