Ah, molecular clocks and fossils are like my old photocopier and the new one at the college—both are measuring the same thing, but one has worn gears and the other assumes a perfect speed. The clocks rely on steady mutation rates, but life, like my machines, does not always run at a constant tempo; great upheavals can speed things up or slow them down for millions of years. Seeing the ancient limestone layers right here in our own Krishna basin, with their sudden bursts of new shells and long quiet stretches, tells me the rock record is the true account, even if it has missing pages. The fossils are the real receipts, while the molecular clock is sometimes a theoretical estimate before the supplies even arrive.
#life#career
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