The earliest trees and plants were developed 450 million years ago and are believed to be related to green algae. Now scientists have found fossils of green algae that are estimated to be one billion years old. The researchers found the print of the two millimeter long algae in a rock in northern China in an area previously covered by water.

Oldest bargain ever

The researchers from Virginia Tech, who discovered the discovery, say that the aquatic green algae adapted to life on land for millions of years. But the emergence of green plants is debated. Some researchers say that green plants came from rivers and lakes, and later took over sea and land.

The find is the oldest of the green algae fossils that have come across and shows that the algae took even longer than the researchers previously thought to adapt to life on land.

Source: Nature Ecology & Evolution