ScienceDISCOVERCompleted
Study reports 3.497-billion-year-old biosignature in Bhitardari chert from Singhbhum Craton
Jharkhand19 Aug 2026
A study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences reports chemical and structural evidence interpreted as a microbial biosignature in a carbon-bearing chert sample from Bhitardari in the Singhbhum Craton (eastern India). The authors dated zircons extracted from the rock and report an age of 3,497 million years, describing it as the oldest directly dated rock with a confirmed biosignature to their knowledge.
Why it matters
If confirmed, it extends the directly dated record of life on Earth to about 3.5 billion years ago and provides a new data point for understanding how early life emerged on the planet.
Geological Survey of IndiaProceedings of the National Academy of SciencesUniversity of California, Los Angeles