Biology|Evolution

Farmer Ants Who Eat the Marshmallow Later

How the ants stumbled upon agriculture way before humans did, displaying the phenomenon of delayed gratification

It is believed that the eyes have evolved 40 times independently in the course of evolution. And not as mere light-sensitive spots, but as complex image-forming optics.

The brain is said to have evolved two times independently from a flatworm ancestor. One lineage evolved into us and the other formed the cephalopods i.e. the octopus, squid, cuttlefish etc. Since eyes are nothing but the extension of the brain, these two lineages also sport independent eye developments with a stark difference.

The light-sensitive spots of that primitive flatworm ancestor evolved into the eyes we possess — the one with the blind spot, and the eyes that the cephalopods possess — the one without blind spot. Should I expand on this, the article will take a detour. So that’s for some other day.

The point is, that so many features have evolved independently that it conveys not just their essentiality but also the marvel of natural engineering.

However, the star of the show isn’t just the biological evolution, but the cultural evolution as well. The evolution of ideas, behaviors and ways of living; all of which can be passed down the generations faster than the genes.