Misidentification of fossils has gone on ever since. Certain astrobiologists, geochemists and origin-of-life theorists get all excited when they see tiny round things in rocks. Some evolutionary biologists specialize in the search for early fossil life, imagining that the first cells popped into existence around geothermal vents or in warm little ponds. Their easy-believism can mislead them into seeing things that were never alive.
Experiments show the record of early life could be full of “false positives” (GSA News). A false positive is calling something what it is not.
A superstitious person might think she has seen a ghost when it is just a bit of fog or a reflection on a window. When astrobiologists look at a rock and see little spheres or filaments, what are they seeing? Julie Cosmidis, Christine Nims and their colleagues said they might be seeing simple old geology and mineralogy.
Much of what we know about the evolution of life comes from the rock record, which preserves rare fossils of bacteria from billions of years ago. But that record is steeped in controversy, with each new discovery (rightfully) critiqued, questioned, and analyzed from every angle. Even then, uncertainty in whether a purported fossil is a trace of life can persist, and the field is plagued by “false positives” of early life. ...." CEH
