Yes, we are all awfully familiar with the theory of evolution—Lamarck, Darwin, and Wallace are names etched into the annals of scientific thought.

And yes, the canonical depiction of a linear ascent from ape to human has become so pervasive as to border on cliché.

Typically, evolution is understood as the transformation of living organisms—the modification of species unfolding over time following life’s inception.

Yet, this conventional understanding may be myopic and reductive.

At least I for one was not aware that evolutionary processes predate the emergence of life itself, originating initially within the realm of non-living matter.