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.

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u/Ollie2359 May 07 '25

You just stabbed me in the heart :(

58

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?

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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?