
Geologist uncovers 2.5B-year-old fossils of bacteria - dnetesn
http://phys.org/news/2016-11-geologist-uncovers-billion-year-old-fossils-bacteria.html
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danieltillett
There have been older fossils found [1], but the interesting thing about this
discovery is that it is they are the oldest fossils of bacteria that use a
particular biochemical pathway - Sulfur oxidation.

I should add that the sulfur oxidiser bacteria are gammaprotobacteria - from
this recent tree-of-life you can see they are just one branch of what is an
amazing amount of diversity [2]. This just shows how long life as been around.

1\. [http://phys.org/news/2013-01-earliest-evidence-life-
billion-...](http://phys.org/news/2013-01-earliest-evidence-life-billion-
years.html)

2\.
[http://www.nature.com/articles/nmicrobiol201648/figures/1](http://www.nature.com/articles/nmicrobiol201648/figures/1)

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misja111
It seems difficult enough already to find those fossile bacteria, but how do
people know that these bacteria were oxidizing sulfur?

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danieltillett
From the shift in Sulfur isotopes [1].

1\. [http://phys.org/news/2014-11-rare-billion-year-old-reveal-
ho...](http://phys.org/news/2014-11-rare-billion-year-old-reveal-hot-sulfur-
breathing.html)

