LOS ANGELES, CA (Catholic Online) - The microbial fossils lived in a relatively hostile environment. Scientists say when they were formed, the Earth didn't have plants to create the oxygen-based life that dominates Earth today. Instead, these microbes breathed a sulfur-rich atmosphere and thrived 300 million years before any earlier recorded life on Earth. 

Researchers examined rocks in Western Australia, known to have existed before life originated on Earth. Earlier research done with samples from rock formations some 20 miles away, did not yield any evidence of life, but researchers plan to reexamine them with new methods to see if new clues can be found.

The method that helped researchers discover the microbes is known as Raman spectroscopy, which utilizes a combination of geochemical analysis and an electron microscope to detect carbon and other residual signs of life. 

The find is important for astrobiologists who say it expands the possible realms of  life in the universe. Previous efforts in the search for extra-terrestrial life have focused on finding Earth-like environments, however the discovery proves that life can develop in environments that aren't very much like Earth at all.

If that's the case, then the number of worlds on where life could develop would rise dramatically. It would bring into the realm of possibility many of the moons of Jupiter and Saturn, and well as creating another niche for scientists to seek on Mars.

Similar microbes do exist on Earth today in the form of sulfur loving bacteria found in boiling-hot geothermal vents deep on the ocean floor. The new find confirms they may have much in common with what may well be the earliest form of life on Earth.

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