Darwin I
[1] Evolution, or is it?
There is nothing more sobering than a fossil. Some kind of life preserved for centuries in a solid indistinguishable form. Outside the Texas History museum makes it a little more sobering than that even - there’s a huge footprint. Yes, just a footprint that is preserved that shows the sheer size of a creature that lived millions of years ago. The building itself is made of cordova shell limestone and granite, which, according to the pamphlet, “the geological timetable [says] granites are the oldest, being separated from the most recent material by a billion years.” [4]. A billion years really seems like a long time.
[2] Fossilized shell.
Something as simple as this shell could have lived what for us would be millions of lifetimes ago. However, the dinosaur footprints depict “the hind feet of a sauropod dinosaur that may have been 60 feet long, weighing 30 tons.” [5]. These internationally famous footprints are a testament to evolution. How then, could an animal so big and dominating actually factor out of the evolutionary pool? Well, as Darwin explains, size may not be beneficial. “Let it also be borne in mind how infinitely complex and close-fitting are the mutual relationships of all organic beings to each other and to their physical conditions of life.” [6]. So it’s not necessarily a cage match where size claims the victory. Because, well, you can’t survive in a cage without food.
[3] So says Darwin.
![[1] http://www.geo.arizona.edu/Antevs/nats104/darwin.gif](http://www.geo.arizona.edu/Antevs/nats104/darwin.gif){kind=link}
[4] Bump, Jerome. “Texas Natural History Museum Brochure” from “E 375L Course Packet”. p. 359.
[5] Bump, Jerome. “Evolution.” in “E 375L Course Packet” p. 368.
[6] Darwin, Charles. “The Origin of Species” excerpt from “E 375L Course Packet” Ed. Jerome Bump. p. 376.
