Evidence for the first life on earth has been extensively researched by biologists paleontologists and scientists from various disciplines to understand the coevolution of biological and. We have long known that fossils of sophisticated marine life forms existed at the dawn of the cambrian period but until recently scientists had found no traces of precambrian fossils the quest to find such traces began in earnest in the mid 1960s and culminated in one dramatic moment in 1993 when william schopf identified fossilized microorganisms three and a half billion years old. Breaking news that recent discoveries may push back traces of the earliest forms of life on earth to a remarkable 377 billion years ago brings new relevance to cradle of life the discovery of earths earliest fossils by j william schopf a dazzling exploration of how science was able to overcome substantial obstacles to look back to the very edges of the dawn of life on our planet. Breaking news that recent discoveries may push back traces of the earliest forms of life on earth to a remarkable 377 billion years ago brings new relevance to cradle of life the discovery of earths earliest fossils by j william schopf a dazzling exploration of how science was able to overcome substantial obstacles to look back to the very edges of the dawn of life on our planet