There is evidence of a variety of early organisms from the Archaean — some 4,000 to 2,500 million years ago. Now life at deep-sea hot springs can provisionally be added to the list.
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Nisbet, E. The realms of Archaean life. Nature 405, 625–626 (2000). https://doi.org/10.1038/35015187
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/35015187
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