• Dagnet@lemmy.world
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        2 months ago

        At the time it was revolutionary, till this day I haven’t seen any attempts at recreating it. I did prefer the earlier 2 stages tho (as in evolution stages), later it wasnt as much fun.

        • Buddahriffic@lemmy.world
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          2 months ago

          It was more revolutionary the day before it was released than the day after though. That game was my first lesson in not getting hyped about something just based on what marketers were saying.

          The game could have used at least a few more years of baking. The earlier stages were more complete, though IMO even they lacked breadth and depth. But the later ones were disappointing in their simplicity.

  • galoisghost@aussie.zone
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    2 months ago

    Did they really look like this or were there big fat blubbery bits that didn’t survive fossilisation

    • Contramuffin@lemmy.world
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      2 months ago

      Unlikely for there to be bubbly bits. These are bugs, so we know their shape because their exoskeleton (which is what fossilizes) is their shape. Fish haven’t evolved yet

      • leftzero@lemmynsfw.com
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        2 months ago

        These seem to be illustrations of Burgess Shale organisms, Burgess Shale being renowned for the excellent preservation of soft tissues in its fossils, so the bubbly bits were actually quite well preserved, if maybe a bit squished and deflated.

      • galoisghost@aussie.zone
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        2 months ago

        Thanks. I looked it up.

        You saying these are bugs tickles my funny bone imagining a metre long anomalcaris scuttling out from under the fridge, like a scene from a Cronenberg movie.

  • Avid Amoeba@lemmy.ca
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    2 months ago

    Life got pretty boring following the last mass extinction. So many mammals evolved from that mouse which survived that we all have the same basic features from hamsters to humans. So much so that mice are a good experimental model for humans…

    • ComfortableRaspberry@feddit.de
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      2 months ago

      My first thought was “a brain with blades in it” and now I wonder how different our answers in a Rorschach Test would be…

      • TurtleTourParty
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        2 months ago

        In my mind the brain blades can extend and retract wolverine style.

    • pyrflie@lemm.ee
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      2 months ago

      Less, one of the major genetic innovations of the late Cambrian was development of jaws. The vast majority of these species would get wrecked by modern fish in moments.

    • ImInLoveWithLife@lemm.ee
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      2 months ago

      I am not a biologist or really anyone with any authority on the matter. Just some guy who likes to read and think about all manner of subjects, so I cannot adequately explain anything here, but if you’re interested in the why, it really boils down to the simplicity of morphological structures early in the development of life on earth, to more complex as evolution did its thing. That’s not to say that evolution has a goal, just that added complexity often means greater advantages. Also, it isn’t as though nothing similar to these creatures exist at all today. These basal forms were a prerequisite to the life we see in the oceans (and on land) today.

      Definitely stay interested and read more about morphology and evolution in general! Fascinating stuff.

    • Schadrach@lemmy.sdf.org
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      2 months ago

      One of the big advances around then was being able to be an effective predator at all. It’s likely one of the big causes for the Cambrian explosion was the arms race to not be eaten vs being able to eat your neighbors effectively.