The cell is the individual unit of life. It evolved over long ages and
is pretty good. It has many fantastic tricks. It can even reproduce
by splitting in two!
However, there is a problem. Cells work better if small. This is because if small, oxygen and other substances can come in and out
easier being right near the cell boarder.
Cells evolve toward higher function. Some have tails to swim, mouth
like parts, eye spots. But..they must contend with the basic fact..
cells work better if small.
So how can bigger, higher functioning animals be made?
The solution is to have an animal made of cells working together.
This has many advantages: Cells can specialize. New animals can
be made with a rearraigement of cells following similar plans.
Cells can die and be replaced without much disruption to the
whole animal.
So, we are to made of a union of cells. We must understand ourselves
as a collection of cells which have mostly given up their independance
for a better existance in a place created by their collective efforts!
THERE WAS A WHOLE ECOSYSTEM BEFORE DINOSAURS.
DINOSAURS WHICH WALK ON TWO LEGS DEVELOPED
AT THIS TIME BUT WERE KEPT DOWN BY THESE HIGHLY
DEVELOPED BEASTS.
THE WORLD WAS SHAKEN UP BY MASS EXTINCTIONS, AFTER
WHICH DINOSAURS BECAME THE TOP CREATURES.
June is bee time here in New York.
The hedges pump gobs of odoriferous pollen into the air.
Many bees come to work, going from flower to flower.
It had rained and a bee was stuck in a overturned garbage pale lid with some
water in it.
I dumped it out onto the ground.
The bee walked a bit forward.
It was moving its abdomen up and down, a bad sign an insect is too far gone.
I waited looking.
I would move it or kill it to prevent it being eaten alive by ants.
Then it tested its wings with a buzz.
After another wait, it rose up and hovered like they do.
It then went right back to a hedge flower and started working.
THE POLAR BEARS ARE ON AN ICE FLOW FAR IN THE NORTH.
The son says to his father, “Dad am I a 100% polar bear?”
The father say “Yes, I and your mother are 100% polar bears. Your grandparents
are 100% polar bears. That means your are 100% polar bear.”
The son say, “Are you sure??? because I’m *#$%@ freezing.”
Triceratops lived along with T-Rexs at the end of the Jurrasic Period.
They are plant eaters; notice the beak capable of smashing big
plant pieces.
Their defenses are designed to ward off T-Rexes who no doubt wanted to feast on them.
They were all killed off by the asteroid strike 66 million years ago.
There were other two legged dinosaurs that T-Rex had to beat.
The general body plan was established by evolution, it worked.
This is what worked at that time.
The T-Rex species was in that mold.
To become the top predator, with access to all the prey animals
it came into head to head competition with similar dinosaurs.
To win, it had to be better than the others.
Weather in a direct battle or by out competing them, T-Rex won out to take over the top predator niche.
In the arms race between predator and prey, there
was the tricerotops and T-Rex.
Other predators could not deal with the big horns of tricerotops.
The T-Rex was evolved to have advantage:
It had good senses, vision, hearing , smell.
It had front facing eyes giving it depth perception.
It had a more advanced brain, allowing team hunting.
Still T-Rex remained a lizard, which limited the potential
it had to develop further.
The lemur is a primate like we are.
It is more primitive then monkeys.
It resulted from a part of African breaking off and becoming isolated -
Madagascar.
They are very social and interact in large groups.