Wednesday, June 09, 2010

Unpredictable

"Which Devonian observer would have predicted that the multilimbed insects that crept round the waterside plants would one day take to the air? Which Jurassic observer would have guessed that the insects she saw flitting and dancing in the sunlight around the muddy legs of the dinosaurs would evolve sociality and then drive their biodiversity and global biomass to untold levels?"

(Michael Benton in "Evolution: The First Four Billion Years", 2009)