“Cradles of life” began in a “warm little pond,” much like the Yellowstone geysers, not at sea.
The first primitive cells germinated in pools of condensed vapour caused by underground hot water or steam bubbling near the surface of the planet, a study shows.
The finding published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences challenges the widespread view that life originated in the sea.
Researchers analysed evidence of key rock chemicals in ancient inland and marine habitats and compared them with a genetic reconstruction of Earth’s first cells.
Physicist Professor Dr Armen Mulkidjanian and colleagues discovered the oceans did not contain the best balance of ingredients to foster life.
