Coyote writes:
Kevin123 writes:
What slowed evolution down?
Perhaps successful adaptation to niches and slower changes in environment.
The obvious answer to my mind is that generation times vary greatly. A small mammal like the mouse has a generation time of 10 weeks from being born to being able to give birth. In primates it is much longer, for chimps and human it is around 15-20 years. I can certainly see how that could slow evolution down, by a factor of about 78, and the difference compared to a very primitive multicellular life form should be larger again. Brine shrimp for example have a generation time of 3 weeks giving a factor of 260.
This makes sense to me at least.
TTFN,
WK