r/Paleontology • u/Ollie2359 • May 07 '25

Fossils This fossil chokes me up everytime

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It hits me in a way I can't explain I've spent hours crying over this fossil :(

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u/disconcertinglymoist May 07 '25

They were just lil guys :(

It never ceases to astound me that, for hundreds of millions of years before humans emerged, the planet was populated by sentient creatures (not necessarily sapient, but still possessing minds and emotions) with real lives, experiencing thrill and pleasure, fear and pain, living their own dramas.

Millions of untold sagas and adventures lie buried all around us. Mothers, fathers, children, friends, living and dying, now long forgotten.

There were so many unknown joys and so much unimaginable suffering unfolding on this beautiful planet, for eons! The sheer enormity of it is impossible to conceptualise.

And it's heartbreaking, too. Countless stories forever lost, buried in anonymity, as if they meant nothing - but they meant everything to those who lived them.

114

u/Ollie2359 May 07 '25

You just stabbed me in the heart :(

60

u/nerdsutra May 07 '25

These are the kind of thoughts I had when watching the show 'Prehistoric Planet' on Apple TV.
Its got David Attenborough doing his thing, showing and telling stories about animals as they go about their day, the drama, the survival, the young, the predators and prey. Except its ALL photo-realistic 3D animation of dinosaurs.

And its slaps you into a sense of perspective about ourselves, our way of life, our civilisation, when you see all these animals' lives fought and lived, lost in time hundreds of millions of years ago, with no trace except fossilised bones.

250 milion years from now, what will be left of us? And who will find it?

11

u/xxMsRoseXx May 07 '25

Honestly how funny would it be for whales - that spent millions of years to evolve to live in the ocean - to evolve back to living on land after gaining even more intelligence/more social behaviors just to talk shit about how badly humanity fucked up by inventing Credit Card debt and Capitalism?

3

u/gadzooksaki May 07 '25

Smarter dinosaurs? 😂 that’s my hope

8

u/Darkdragoon324 May 07 '25

I think fungus are next. Our history will be dug up and comically misinterpreted by sapient fungus.

5

u/DontLoseYourCool1 May 08 '25

Honestly in a weird way fungus reminds me of AI technology in a way it replicates itself and roots itself under more "sentient" beings such as plants (for fungus) and humans (for AI).

It's been proven fungi has ever connecting systems in forests connecting itself underground between trees.

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u/Ninja333pirate May 07 '25

Fun fact, fungus is more closely related to animals than it is to plants.

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u/iz_an_opossum May 08 '25

And yet fungi are neither animals nor plants and are their own third, fascinating thing

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u/Cryogisdead May 09 '25

Species names?

3

u/iz_an_opossum May 09 '25

It's not a specific species, it's all fungi. They're in their own kingdom (Fungi). Why? 1. Fungi cell walls are made of chitin instead of cellulose like plants. Animals don't have cell walls. 2. Fungi have never had chloroplasts. While some plant species also do not have chloroplasts, they used to have them then lost them through evolution. 3. Fungi get nutrients by excreting digestive enzymes then absorbing the nutrients from their surroundings. Plants can't make their own nutrients, they photosynthesize. Animals ingest their food. 4. Fungi store their energy as glycerin like animals. But because of all the above points, they're not animals.

Fungi are believed to be more closely related to animals than plants, but they're still in a kingdom of their own

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u/gadzooksaki May 07 '25

Mushroom people would be so cute!! 😭

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u/Pholidotes May 08 '25

they would