Question: the first life forms to appear on earth were
Answer: putative fossilized microorganisms

title: Earliest known life forms
text: Earliest known life forms The earliest known life forms on Earth are putative fossilized microorganisms found in hydrothermal vent precipitates. The earliest time that life forms first appeared on Earth is unknown. They may have lived earlier than 3.77 billion years ago, possibly as early as 4.28 billion years ago, or nearly 4.5 billion years ago according to some; in any regards, not long after the oceans formed 4.41 billion years ago, and not long after the formation of the Earth 4.54 billion years ago. The earliest "direct" evidence of life on Earth are microfossils of microorganisms permineralized in 3.465-billion-year-old