Chengdu University of Technology-led research has established a high-resolution astrochronological framework spanning approximately 57.6 million years of the early Ediacaran Period. This calibrated timeline provides precise constraints on major climatic events and the appearance of early complex life, offering critical context for understanding environmental change and biological innovation during Earth’s early history.

Understanding early life on Earth has been frequently stalled by an imprecise geological clock. Scientists have relied on broad stratigraphic patterns to trace the early Ediacaran Period (635 to 538.8 million years ago), a time marked by massive climate upheavals and the first signs of complex life.

Without consistent radiometric dating, researchers have struggled to align environmental disruptions such as shifts in carbon chemistry or marine oxygen levels with biological change. It’s a bit like having a few puzzle pieces and a stack of puzzles they might have come from. Fragmented timelines have left unanswered questions about what may have triggered evolutionary steps and when they occurred.