Surprise bitches, I’m back. In the biggest flex known to animal-kind, this unassuming bird has evolved itself into existence twice since being pronounced extinct 136,000 years ago.
The Jesus of the avian world, if you will.
In the matrix glitch of the millennium, this flightless brown bird has re-incarnated itself after being declared extinct over 100,000 years ago.
The Aldabra white-throated rail was reportedly wiped out by rising sea levels a very long time ago, however, has reappeared twice since that time through a phenomenon known as “iterative evolution.”
Your minds are probably racing with questions. How? Why? When? What? Does this mean the dinosaurs could be making a comeback soon?
According to research published in the Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, “iterative evolution” occurs when the ancestral lineage that created the birds in the first place, “produces parallel offshoot species at different points in time.”
This essentially means that identical species can rock up multiple times throughout the course of history, even if their predecessors are six foot under. If this doesn’t scream the simulation is crashing, then I don’t know what does.
The rail’s reunion gig has obviously fascinated scientists across the globe. While iterative evolution has been found in many species, such as turtles and sea cows, never has it been seen in the evolution of our feathered friends.
“We know of no other example in rails, or of birds in general, that demonstrates this phenomenon so evidently,” paleobiologist David Martill said in a statement.
“Only on Aldabra, which has the oldest palaeontological record of any oceanic island within the Indian Ocean region, is fossil evidence available that demonstrates the effects of changing sea levels on extinction and recolonization events.”
2020 is already chaotic enough, we don’t need re-materialising birds. Call in Keanu ’cause this ain’t it.
