In order to better understand the evolutionary history of the virus, the authors of this paper analysed the genomic sequence of SARS-CoV-2 to identify its origins within the sarbecovirus viral subgenus. Evidence presented in this paper suggests that while sarbecoviruses tend to undergo recombination leading to genetic diversity, SARS-CoV-2 is not itself a recombinant of any known sarbecoviruses. The receptor binding motif, an important region for the specificity to ACE2 receptors in humans, is shared in the ancestral lineage and is not considered novel through recombination. The authors further estimated that the SARS-CoV2 virus may have been circulating in bats for decades with estimates of divergence of the virus in 1948, 1969, and 1982. These findings provide compelling evidence of the urgent need for comprehensive surveillance systems established to both identify human disease but also monitor closely related viruses circulating in bat reservoirs such that we may prevent future pandemics.