2.5 bn-yr-old bacteria fossils uncovered that predate oxygen
Geologists have found 2.52 billion-year-old fossils of sulphur-oxidising bacteria in South Africa, the oldest reported till date, predating the formation of oxygen. Much larger than most modern bacteria, the discovered ancient bacteria fossils were found similar to single-celled organisms that live in deep-ocean sulphur-rich environments, where there are negligible traces of oxygen even today.