Traces of early life in rocks in Australia

SYDNEY - Researchers from the University of New South Wales have for the first time found organic matter in a group of 3.5-billion-year-old fossilized stromatolites known as the Dresser Formation in Western Australia's Pilbara region.

Stromatolites are a type of rock formed by living organisms and while it was previously suspected that the ancient Dresser Formation was produced by living organisms, it remained unproven, until now.

"This is an exciting discovery. For the first time, we are able to show that these stromatolites are definitive evidence of the earliest life on Earth," says lead researcher Raphael Baumgartner.