The 3.7 billion-year-old fossil is the oldest on Earth.

Australian scientists have discovered the world's oldest fossil on the island of Greenland, dating back 3.7 billion years.

Professor Allen Nutman and Associate Professor Vickie Bennett are holding a 3.7-billion-year-old stromatolite rock sample. Photo: AFP.

Allen Nutman at the University of Wollongong, Australia, led the research team that discovered the fossilized structure, known as stromatolite (ancient sedimentary rock formed by the growth of microorganisms), along the edge of the ice cap on Greenland, Denmark, in early September. The fossil is estimated to be 3.7 billion years old, according to News.com.au.

The stromatolite fossils in Greenland provide evidence that life appeared just a few hundred million years after Earth formed, about 4.5 billion years ago, Nutman said.

"This is evidence of the oldest life on Earth. The exposed rock structures in Greenland are of biological origin," said Martin Julian Van Kranendonk, professor of geology at the University of New South Wales, Australia.

According to Nutman, the new discovery provides more information for scientists searching for life on Mars, the planet most likely to harbor microbial life. In the distant past, the red planet is thought to have contained plenty of water, had an atmosphere, and a warm climate, creating conditions suitable for bacteria to thrive.

"Three billion years ago, Mars was probably still wet with many oceans. If life developed so rapidly on Earth to form things like stromatolite rocks, life could have developed on Mars and left traces that are still here today. Instead of just looking at chemical signs, scientists could rely on images of stromatolite rocks on Mars sent back to Earth to search for life," Nutman told AFP.

According to VNE