Doesn the fossil record indicate that the first cells on Earth evolved after a long, gradual process that started with nonliving chemicals?
A. No. The oldest rocks that are capable of containing evidence of life (the rocks whose information hasn’t been erased by melting or otherwise) contain evidence that the metabolism of bacterial cells was already under way. The best guess to make from that clue is that bacterial life — whole cells — were present on Earth from day one. (The standard prebiotic soup theory is now compelled to say that the first cells evolved from nonliving chemicals very quickly.) Q.
