Last days of Earth: Timeline to the end of everything

The first living molecules appeared 3.8 billion years ago and on current estimates, the last cells will be snuffed out in another 3 billion years. Along the way, several factors could have huge consequences for what survives and where

4 May 2016

		3.8 billion years ago The spark of life animates molecules for the first time
		3.5 billion The first cells form in water, somewhere
		2.4 billion Photosynthesising bacteria start coughing oxygen into the atmsophere
		2 billion The first complex cells are “born” and…
		1.5 billion …divide into three groups: the ancestors of plants, animals and fungi
		650 million years ago Tiny jellyfish are the first complex animals. Some say sponges came first, but recent genetic evidence suggests not
		575m Weird animals called Ediacarans appear and persist for about 33 million years
		565m Fossilised trails suggest some animals are moving under…