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The Earth was stagnant for about a billion years between 800 million and 1.8 billion years ago, stalling evolution due to a lack of trace metal nutrients in the oceans. Evolution resumed over 200 million years, leading to today’s biodiversity. The text also includes interesting facts about blue eyes and dog breeds, and clarifies Charles Darwin’s theory.
The world is an exciting place these days, with a global economy, smart technology, and a huge array of fascinating animal and plant species. But it wasn’t always such a fun place. In fact, for a long time – about a billion years – the Earth was as opaque as dishwater, with life stagnating as slime. Everything happened – or rather, didn’t happen – between 800 million and 1.8 billion years ago, right in the middle of the evolutionary process, which began about 3.5 billion years ago. During that in-between stage, however, evolution stalled to the point where scientists sometimes call it the “boring billion” year. Before that, evolution was fairly stable, albeit at a snail’s pace, with the development of single-celled organisms. But according to the research, that progress stalled when the oceans ran out of trace metal nutrients and ocean life — which was all there was — remained a slimy mess for about a billion years. Eventually, over a span of 200 million years, the waters regained their vital nutrients and evolution got back on track, eventually leading to the biodiversity we see today.
The Earth and Evolution:
Blue-eyed people were a rarity until a genetic mutation occurred about 10,000 years ago; currently, approximately 17% of the US population has blue eyes.
All of today’s hundreds of dog breeds evolved from a single type of wolf.
Contrary to popular belief, Charles Darwin claimed that humans and apes shared a common ancestor, not that humans evolved from apes.
