The evolution of insect swarms from XNUMX million years ago

Chapter 60 Alien Freeman and Ancient Creature Monster

Of course, if he wanted to further determine the mystery of the identity of Tully Monster, he had a simpler way - this started with the essential difference between convergent evolution and direct kinship.

The so-called convergent evolution is when two organisms that are not directly related or closely related evolve similar forms in the same habitat.

There are many similar examples. For example, in the ecological niche of swordfish, from ancient times to the present, there have been the swordfish-shaped Hurd shrimp that Lin Yi encountered, the placoderm of later generations such as Carlo's helmeted fish, the ichthyosaur of Eurosaurus, and the thick-stemmed fish. The original species of fish, as well as the swordfish from Lin Yi's previous life.

Among them, some are fish, some are sauromorphs, and some are not even vertebrates, but they all use their own methods to converge on sword-like protruding snouts or skulls to achieve similar purposes.

The difference between it and direct kinship is even simpler.

To give a simple example, if your father is handsome and you are handsome, then this is not convergent evolution, but a direct kinship.

But one day, you find that Lao Wang next door looks more handsome, so you go to a certain Bangzi to have yourself plastic surgery to look like Lao Wang next door. This means that you and Lao Wang are in the same habitat, and Lao Wang's excellent traits have more advantages. Strong competitive advantage, so you and Lao Wang have undergone convergent evolution.

But this has a disadvantage, that is, it will lead to misclassification in taxonomy based on morphology and anatomy.

It's like if you had plastic surgery to look like Lao Wang. Although people who have seen you before know that you have nothing to do with Lao Wang, if outsiders see it, they will inevitably have some doubts.
  Of course, the solution is also very simple - molecular biology, that is, gene sequencing technology. Just like if you go for a paternity test with Lao Wang, you will find that you and Lao Wang are actually not directly related at all, but have only experienced convergent evolution.
  Of course, later generations of paleontologists did not have the conditions to extract genetic sequences from fossils, but Lin Yi did. He could see the living ones, and the brood was the best genetic sequencing instrument.

Taking into account the possibility of a similar situation, Lin Yi also added relevant gene fragments that can pupate into the mother's nest into the genetic sequence of the scout mother, so that it can also directly pupate into the mother's nest.

The nearby micronized torpedo turtles and miniaturized spy turtles absorbed the last bit of supplies from the mother turtle and then spread out to "protect" the mother nest.

Several miniaturized spies worked together to control the Tully monster's small body. Half of the suction cup-shaped structure was attached to the ground, and the other half was attached to the Tully monster's body, sticking it to the ground like a living tape.

At first, it struggled slightly, but later it was unclear whether it was exhausted or gave up the struggle, and stopped moving, as if it were dead.

The huge body of the reconnaissance mother was not slow to pupate into the mother's nest. Soon, a large mother's nest was completed. A worker was born, waving its claws and walking towards the Tali monster fixed on the ground.

When the chelicerae opened and closed, the soft body of the Tully monster was torn in half - the spine is indeed not as strong as the spine of the Sakaban turtle, I wonder if it is a coincidence.

The two halves of the remaining body were skillfully stuffed into the holes on the surface of the newborn nest and began to be absorbed.

For some reason, absorbing the genetic sequence of the Tully Monster took longer than absorbing a normal creature.

Even so, there's nothing special about the Tully Monster's genetic sequence. There are no genetic fragments that are useful to him now.

Compared with this, whether the origin of the other party is related to the Middle Ordovician meteor event and whether it is related to the nest group is the question he is most concerned about. But in all of this, the mother's nest's gene extraction ability cannot give him the answer. All it knows is that the genetic sequence of Tully Monster is indeed closer to that of cephalopod molluscs, but it is still different in some aspects - after all, the backbone has grown out.

They are likely to have originated as an independent branch of molluscs, or they separated from primitive cephalopods during the Cambrian Period, developed an endoskeletal structure, and finally grew into what they are today during the Ordovician Period.

Perhaps because they lost out in the competition with serious vertebrates, the Tully monster group was like a predatory dinosaur shrimp that did not leave any traces in the strata during the long period from the Ordovician to the Carboniferous.

It was not until the Carboniferous Period that it experienced a short-lived prosperity, leaving more than a thousand fossils in the strata and then disappearing again, just like the fossil of the Schendhans shrimp.

He couldn't help but think of a joke from later generations, saying that the three monsters of ancient creatures were actually the masterpieces left by the aliens.

But Lin Yi felt that it was quite irresponsible to attribute all unknowns to an "alien" that did not even exist. Just like ascribing unknown things to gods in ancient times, it is an alternative superstition in a sense.

He will still study to the end the truth about the Middle Ordovician meteor incident, the parent nest, and the origin of the nest group. But now, the more important task is to completely eliminate the Orthogonal Stone Nest Group to provide him with a stable research environment.

After satisfying the curiosity for a while, the mother nest here cannot be wasted. More workers and soldiers began to be produced, preparing to sweep away the nearby nutrients and produce another reconnaissance mother.

The reconnaissance mothers in other directions are still searching for traces of the right spiral stone nest group, but so far they have found nothing.

Lin Yi is not in a hurry. After all, the earth's ocean area is wider these days than in later generations. Accurately locating the remaining forces of the Straight-Helix Nest Group is no easier than finding a needle in a haystack.

The nest continued to expand steadily, and more fearless soldiers were produced by Lin Yi, patrolling the increasingly vast territory while guarding against the surprise attack of Zhiluojiashi.

The mother nest group that spread from the initial territory and the Dikla Crater was surrounded by two sides. The territory of the Anomalocaris nest group was gradually surrounded by Lin Yi to limit the opponent's development space.

Even after the advent of the fearless soldier, he is no longer afraid of the opponent's main combat unit - the swordfish-shaped Hurd shrimp. And the other party didn't show any malice, but Lin Yi still maintained a cautious attitude to avoid being stabbed in the back.

The other party seemed to have accepted this reality and no longer placed hope on such a vast living space. Lin Yi did not want to attack them anymore, but only continued to send micro-spies to monitor them.

It seemed that the other party was different from the Straight Spiral Stone Nest Group, which also made Lin Yi somewhat curious about how the differences between the hive mind consciousnesses of the nest group formed.

At this moment, some results emerged from the analysis of the genetic sequence of the brood-like object in the center of the Dikla crater. Lin Yi changed his mind again, focused his perspective there, and began to study its genetic sequence again.

(End of this chapter)