14 DAY TRIAL // scientists argue that recently unearthed fossil remains of ancient creatures prove that life on land is four times older than previously estimated.
The researchers explain that, until now, it was believed that life forms had only crawled out of the water about 500 million years ago.
However, fossils dug out from ancient soils in South Africa indicate that disc-shaped creatures similar to present day fungus lived on land nearly 2.2 billion years ago.
These creatures were no bigger than the head of a match.
“They certainly were not plants or animals, but something rather more simple,” geologist Gregory J. Retallack details on his and his colleagues' findings.
“At last we have an idea of what life on land looked like in the Precambrian. Perhaps with this search image in mind, we can find more and different kinds of fossils in ancient soils,” he adds.