3 ms·
In the paper they mention both (paper was linked in the article): > In our considered view the totality of the multifactorial data and critical analyses assemb
by Insanity 8y ago
In the paper they mention both (paper was linked in the article):
>
In our considered view the totality of the multifactorial data and critical analyses
assembled by Fred Hoyle, Chandra Wickramasinghe and their many colleagues leads
to the bare minimum yet plausible scientific conclusion – that life was seeded here
on Earth by life-bearing comets as soon as conditions on Earth allowed it to flourish
(at or just before 4.1 Billion years ago); and living organisms such as space-resistant
and space-hardy bacteria, viruses, more complex eukaryotic cells and organisms (e.g.
Tardigrades), perhaps even fertilised ova and plant seeds, may have been
continuously delivered ever since to Earth helping to drive further the progress of
terrestrial biological evolution.
EDIT: Further in the paper they talk specifically about the octopus in more detail:
> Thus the possibility that cryopreserved Squid and/or Octopus eggs, arrived in icy
bolides several hundred million years ago should not be discounted (below) as that
would be a parsimonious cosmic explanation for the Octopus' sudden emergence on
Earth ca. 270 million years ago.
Full disclosure: I'm a software engineer not a biologist, so the next bit is my interpretation that could be wrong:
As I get it from the paper they seem to suggest that octopi came into being either due to genes inserted into a terrestrial ancestor whereby the genes came from space. OR by the landing of extraterrestrial eggs on our planet.