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PBS: Nova: Evolution: Brain Power

Thursday, October 15, 2026 6:57

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This first show in a 5-part series
aimed to present the ancestors of dolphins, but veers away occasionally.

Figure 1. Comparing the extant worm, Stylaria to Cambrian Opabinia and Carboniferous Tullimontrom. All three share a similar morphology that has not been fully explored yet in the academic literature.

I’m watching the ‘Brain Power’ segment https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lsjrRvCXu24 in which predatory 5-eyed Opabinia (Fig 1) is chasing chubby-little Metaspriggina with Opabinia’s proboscis acting as if that organ was a dangerous projecting mouth. We know the harmless jawless mouth/anus opening was below the anterior torso, as in Tullimonstrum (Fig 1), more generally in flatworms and a living similarly segmented relative, Stylaria (Fig 1). The clawed organ was a holdfast, something to keep the worm from drifting downstream when it was feeding, which it did by covering its prey, likely microbial mat. The stomach/intestine would evert, then bring back in whatever stuck to the everted inside of the stomach.

Figure 2. The skull and skeleton of Indohyus. Not deer-like.

A little later
Indohyus (Fig 1) is presented as an herbivorous ungulate, ‘tip-toeing on little hooves’. Indohyus is an odontocete ancestor, not a mysticete ancestor. Hippos are mysticete ancestors. Indohyus feet are spreading (Fig 2), unlike those of artiodactyls. In analysis Indohyus nests between otter-like Palaeosinopa and Tenrec + Hemicentetes, which also swim and use echolocation.

That hoof myth came about due to convergent ankle structures while omitting these more closely related taxa (Fig 4).

Figure 3 Palaeosinopa in situ with tail reconstructed from disturbed elements.

Whale expert Hans Thewissen
explained the limb bones of Indohyus have a thick cortex, but compares the cross-section to the unrelated ungulate, Cainotherium.

Taxon exclusion strikes again.

Figure 4. Odontocete evolution to scale according to the LRT.

The AI portions are myth-making.
The point is: show the fossil, not the myth. Other parts of the program show the fossil. Those are intriguing enough and based on ‘see for yourself’ facts.

Source: https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/2026/10/15/pbs-nova-evolution-brain-power/

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