David Gold specializes in molecular paleontology, an area of study that combines geological, genetic and developmental tools to study the early evolution of animal life. A biologist by training, he’s fascinated by the development of life systems over long time scales.

Paleontologists are getting a glimpse at life over a billion years in the past based on chemical traces in ancient rocks and the genetics of living animals. Research published in Nature Communications combines geology and genetics, showing how changes in the early Earth prompted a shift in how animals eat.