A new research study by the geochemists at UCLA says that life existed on Earth nearly 4.1 billion years ago, 300 million years more than earlier suggested, the Standard Daily reports.

The research says life may have begun shortly after the earth was formed around 4.55 billion years back.

The research has been published in the online early edition of the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Mark Harrison, the co-author of the study and also a professor of geochemistry at UCLA stated that life started almost immediately after the planet was formed. He said that life seemed to have formed very quickly, with the presence of the elements conducive to life.

The new research also stated that life existed prior to the bombardment that created craters of the moon around 3.9 billion years back.

Patrick Boehnke, the other co-author of the research and a graduate student in Harrison's laboratory, stated that even if all life on Earth perished during this bombardment, it might have resumed quickly.

The researchers were led by Elizabeth Bell, a postdoctoral scholar in Harrison's lab. Bell examined over 10,000 zircons primarily formed from molten rocks, or magmas, collected from Western Australia. Zircons preserve their immediate environment, and can therefore work as time capsules.