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Eons
Beans & Bees (Not Bats) Gave Us Butterflies
Season 6
Episode 9
For a few years we thought bats were to thank for the existence of butterflies. The idea was that the evolution of bats drove one group of moths to abandon the night entirely, becoming active during the day to escape, giving rise to butterflies. But it turns out the groups we should actually be thanking for the beautiful bugs are bees and beans.
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Life begins to rebound after the destruction of the mass extinction ending the Permian Period.
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An apocalypse ended the Permian Period 252 million years ago, wiping out more than 80% of species.
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An extinction in the Middle Permian decimates life, from a fossil reef to our ancient relatives.
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The first herbivorous vertebrates evolve on the side of the amniote family tree leading to mammals.
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Seed plants and amniotes adapt to dry climates, helping them thrive on Pangea in the Permian Period.
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5,700 years ago, woolly mammoths crossed a remote tundra island off Alaska.
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Why did vertebrates conquer both the land and the air before the depths of the sea?
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Long-extinct dinosaurs may still haunt us—possibly driving us to age faster than any vertebrate.