E X P L O S I O N O F D I V E R S E L I F E
The Age of Fish. And more.
Every animal we see about us today
can trace its ancestry back to an era that began
420 million years ago. For the next 60 million years
the Devonian would churn out one new family of
animals after another.
It was an astonishing time of creation
for both plant and animal. Every land
plant in existence has its roots beginning
with the Devonian. The land became a
living and breathing green.
A G E O F F I S H
Life was entering a time of revolutionary change.
Vertebrates formed skeletons in place of shells.
Bones allowed continuous growth while shells
constrained an animal's size. The animal's
speed weighed down by its armor.
Survival of the fittest generally referred to
competition for food, shelter and breeding.
There isn't enough of anything to go around.
What animal's skillset is best suited for its
surroundings? Those that lose out become
a genetic dead-end. Its personal DNA lost.
The gene pool of each generation is created
from this process of determining the species
characteristics most likely to succeed given
the environment's current challenges.
F O R E S T S
The marine environment often provides for
habitats that stack one atop another.
Fish make their living at different depths
while the crab looks after the ground floor.
The development of trees enabled for
layered habitats on land. The fox patrols
the ground while trees provide squirrels
with nuts and limbs for nesting birds.
The idea of a tree first required a number of
revolutionary innovations to turn plant life
into something more than the smelly green
muck that lined the shore. Wood would be
needed for strength if we're talking trees.
They would also need a deep root system
for mining the ground's nutrients and to
keep the tree upright, even if it is fifty feet tall
and facing into a stiff, surge of wind.
You're going to need a world class
vascular system to transport nutrients
from the roots to the leaves fifty feet
straight up. It's a tough problem but
you will have a few million years to
work it out.
A M P H I B I A N S
Four legged land animals had their likely origin with
freshwater fish, struggling to survive periodic drought
by using meaty lobed fins for walking, and their
swim bladder capable of breathing like a lung
until they reached the next water hole.
In time, the land became lush with vegetation.
Here was a land guaranteeing a free lunch for all -
no competition and no predators. Water here
is available only for drinking. Bladders replace gills
and genetic innovations slowly transform meaty
fins used for paddling into jointed legs designed
to have the animal walk upright. An entirely
new genetic path was being pioneered from scratch.
I N S E C T S
The Earth is a greenhouse
rotating in endless summer
with no place for polar ice caps.
A Devonian year was 400 days,
and each day lasted 22 hours.
The planet's two supercontinents,
Gondwana and Euramerica,
were becoming infested with insects,
spiders and centipedes.
C O R A L R E E F S
The Devonian world was one of near endless,
sunlit shallow seas under a placid vacation
sky. Coral reefs sprawled for thousands of miles
in all directions beneath the ocean's surface.
These colorful reefs provided homes for
ancient trilobites, sea scorpions and
animals with coiled shells, among others.
This tropical paradise lasted sixty million
years before the global environment
took a drastic turn for the worse.
Nearly eighty percent of marine life
was lost in the resulting global mass
extinction. The cause remains yet to be
determined as there is little evidence
to support any one particular explanation.
For the moment,
all talk on the matter is mere speculation.
* * * * *
OVER EASY
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