Progress

For life taken as a whole it is not the lifespan of a single species that matters. (Even if an artificial life  form controlled by Asa H software would have to use that as a measure of utility. see my 19 Feb. 2011 blog) All species go extinct.  Rather, there is a distribution of lifespans (for all the various lifeforms) which grows increasingly more skewed with time.  That change in the distribution is what constitutes progress for life as a whole.  Indirectly (as the tail of the distribution becomes populated) this leads, in turn, to new genera with enhanced longevity. (Contrast this with what might constitute progress for human society.  see my 18 May 2011 blog)