Seeking the oldest evidence of life on Earth

Abstract

The search for the oldest evidence of terrestrial life is a search for answers to some of mankind?s oldest questions. But do we really have a chance of finding unequivocal fossils of the simple, soft bodied microorganisms that were the first inhabitants of this planet if we consider their lack of hard parts, their concealment from the naked eye, their simple morphologies, the timeframes and planetary processes since their formation (perhaps more than 3 billion years ago), and the rarity of suitable ancient rocks?