If all the world’s a stage, and all the species merely players, then their exits and entrances can be found in the rock record. This poetic perspective highlights the continuous evolution and unfolding of life’s history, a narrative that is etched into fossils and the layers of sediment in which they are found.

A recent Virginia Tech analysis has now extended this narrative back to nearly 2 billion years ago, offering a more complete picture of life’s origin, diversification, and extinction.