Do the Quebec fossils prove that life begin much earlier than we thought?

Scientists believe they have found fossils dating back at least 3.8bn years - and they might even help us find life on other planets

What's all the excitement about?
A team of scientists say they have discovered the oldest fossils on Earth in rocks from Quebec. Dating techniques suggest the rocks are at least 3.8bn years old, and might even be 4.3bn years old.

What do these fossils look like?
They are tiny. They consist of filaments and tubes up to half a millimetre in length and around half the width of a human hair. They're made of haematite, a type of iron oxide (better known as rust). Some of the filaments resemble loose coils, some are branched, and others appear to be joined to knobs of haematite. The tubes and filaments are thought to be the remains of bacteria that lived on iron and dwelt around hydrothermal vent systems - mineral-rich hot springs - on the seafloor. Similar systems have been proposed as a likely location for where life first arose.