Bringing the Railway to Daming

Chapter 287: Did humans evolve from apes? Did dragons really exist in the world? [Subscription Request]

When Liu Kuan was adjusting a movie, Zhu Yuanzhang asked, "What's the name of this movie?"

"Jurassic Park."

"Jurassic Park?" Old Zhu was puzzled. "What does it mean?"

Liu Kuan put the tablet away, but didn't start the movie right away. Instead, he smiled and said, "Your Majesty, since you know we live on Earth, have you ever thought about how the Earth was born and how many years ago it was born?"

Zhu Yuanzhang said, "I have read the records of your lectures in the main hall. It said that the Earth, the solar system, and even the larger Milky Way were all created after the Big Bang."

"As for how many years the Earth was created, you haven't mentioned it. Don't keep me in suspense, just tell me directly."

Liu Kuan said, "According to the research of later scientists, the Earth is more than 46 billion years old."

Forty-six... billion years?
After hearing Liu Kuan's answer, everyone in the Zhu family who had an idea about this number was shocked.

Those who had no idea, like Zhu Ying, couldn't help but ask Zhu Biao, "Brother, if I remember correctly, one hundred million is one hundred million, right?"

Zhu Biao was also in shock and nodded woodenly, "That's right."

"So, this Earth we're on has existed for 4.6 billion years?!"

Zhu Biao still nodded woodenly, "That's right."

Just as the Zhu family was in shock, Liu Kuan asked again, "Your Majesty, do you know how many years it has been since we humans appeared on Earth?"

Although Liu Kuan taught natural sciences in the main hall for several years, he always focused on physics, followed by chemistry. He also talked about biology, but not in detail - because he believed that for the Ming Dynasty, the current research on biology should be ranked after physics and chemistry.

As for the birth of mankind, Liu Kuan only mentioned it briefly and did not elaborate.

Lao Zhu has a very good memory, especially for some important content, he can almost remember everything he sees.

He thought for a moment and then said, "I remember you said in the main hall that humans evolved from apes, but you never said how many years humans have existed. Could it be that later generations also have an answer to this?"

Liu Kuan said, "Before this humble minister traveled through time, according to the research of later scientists, human evolution and development went through four major stages: Australopithecus, Homo habilis, Homo erectus, and Homo sapiens. We are now considered Homo sapiens."

"Australopithecus was similar to today's apes and lived between about two and four million years ago."

"As for Homo habilis, since it carries the character 'human' in its name, it clearly differs significantly from apes in that it was able to use and even make tools. It lived between 1.5 million and 2 million years ago."

"Homo erectus, which split and evolved from Homo habilis, had already adopted upright walking as a normal practice and was more adept at making and using tools. It probably lived between 30,000 and 1.5 million years ago."

"As for the last Homo sapiens, it can actually be divided into multiple stages. According to later research, the earliest Homo sapiens may have appeared 200,000 to 300,000 years ago, but their appearance at that time was very different from ours."

"For example, in order to chew raw meat, the teeth and brow bones are more prominent, the braincase is relatively small, and so on."

"Humans, who are not significantly different from us today in appearance, actually only evolved about 40,000 to 50,000 years ago."

"As for humans having written records of history, taking our Chinese civilization as an example, it has only been around for a few thousand years, no more than ten thousand years."

At this point, Liu Kuan paused and smiled, "That is to say, even if we count from the time of the ancient apes, we have only appeared on Earth for a little over four million years. Compared to the Earth's 46 billion years, that's only about one thousandth of that."

"So, before we humans appeared, was there no other life on Earth?"

After listening to Liu Kuan's brief account of the history of human evolution and comparing it with the 46 billion years of the Earth's existence, Zhu Yuanzhang, Zhu Biao, Zhu Di and others were shocked and felt complicated.

Zhu Biao, when reading history, already felt insignificant compared to the thousands of years of Chinese history. Now, when he compares it to the millions of years of human evolution and the 46 billion years of Earth's lifespan, he feels even more insignificant.

However, Lao Zhu still has some doubts: Did humans really evolve from apes?
Zhu Di was thinking: Yes, the Earth has existed for such a long time, there must have been other life forms before humans appeared. Maybe there were even life forms as intelligent as humans, capable of using tools and even establishing a country!

However, if there really are life forms as intelligent as humans, where are they now?
"Teacher, was there any other life on Earth before humans appeared?" Zhu Xiongying was also confused by Liu Kuan's question, so he asked directly.

Anyway, it’s not shameful for students to ask teachers.

Liu Kuan smiled and said, "Of course there was life on Earth before humans appeared. According to later scientists, although the Earth has existed for 46 billion years, there were many terrible natural disasters in its early days. Earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, and meteorite impacts were commonplace."

"In the earliest times, there were no clouds to shield us from the sun's damage, and without the air we have today, it was almost impossible for any life to survive."

"It took about a billion years from the birth of the Earth to the appearance of the simplest single-celled organisms."

"As for the changes that Earth underwent over the next three billion years, and what kind of life existed there, later generations have only studied the tip of the iceberg, and our understanding is still very limited."

"The 'Jurassic' in today's Jurassic Park refers to the period between approximately 200 million and 150 million years ago."

"According to later research, during this period, the Earth also had a protagonist creature similar to humans that almost dominated the world - dinosaurs." Dinosaurs?

dragon? !

The Zhu family was shocked at first, then their eyes lit up.

Zhu Ying was the first to ask, "Are there really dragons in this world?!"

Zhu Di asked, "Could it be that the various dragon-related stories in myths and legends are not groundless?!"

Although the others did not ask any questions, they all looked at Liu Kuan with burning eyes, eager to know the answer.

Liu Kuan immediately threw cold water on his response, "It's a dinosaur, not the mythical dragon that can make clouds and rain. For example, the name Zhupolong also has the word 'dragon' in it, but is it a dragon? It's also called a crocodile, but it's actually an amphibian reptile."

"So it is with dinosaurs. Maybe some of them resembled mythical dragons, but they were not the same creatures."

Zhu Yuanzhang said, "Let's play the movie. After watching the movie, we will know what dinosaurs look like."

"Your Majesty is right." Liu Kuan responded and played the movie.

"Jurassic Park" was released in 1993. If viewed from Liu Kuan's perspective before he traveled through time, the quality of this film was very average, but it did cause a big sensation in the s, and dinosaur-related elements became popular all over the world.

Although the picture quality of this film is a bit poor, it has no impact on the Zhu family, who have rarely watched movies.

On the contrary, a few minutes after the video started, it was discovered that the audience was full of Westerners, which surprised Lao Zhu and others. They then realized that this was a movie shot by foreigners.

Liu Kuanfang's version is dubbed in Mandarin. If it was the original version, Lao Zhu and others should have realized it long ago.

In addition, the dinosaurs only appear in this film about 20 minutes into the film, and the first one to appear is a huge Diplodocus!
Because the special effects in the movie were so realistic, the Zhu family was stunned for a moment, and they were as shocked as the main characters in the movie...

Two hours later, after watching the main characters escape from the out-of-control Nublar Island in a helicopter and the movie's curtain call appeared, the Zhu family still couldn't recover for a long time.

It wasn't until the end of the film that Zhu Xiongying broke the silence and asked, "Teacher, are dinosaurs really as tall and ferocious as they are in the movies?"

Liu Kuan said: "The dinosaur special effects in this movie are basically restored to the real situation - I believe you have also seen in the opening of the film that people in later generations have discovered many dinosaur fossils underground."

"Also, there are many types of dinosaurs. The first tall dinosaur to appear was called Diplodocus. It was a bit like an elephant or a giraffe and was mainly a herbivore."

"As for carnivorous dinosaurs, they were similar to today's tigers, leopards, and wolves. Their hunter nature made them very ferocious."

Zhu Xiongying nodded first, then asked, "Teacher, what is a giraffe?"

Liu Kuan said: "Giraffes are probably the tallest known land animals. They live in Africa, have extremely long necks, and have fur with patterns similar to cheetahs."

"Historically, during the Yongle reign, small nations would send giraffes as tribute to the Ming Dynasty. The Ming people mistakenly believed them to be the legendary Qilin, a mythical beast, and considered them auspicious."

Speaking of this, Liu Kuan couldn't help laughing.

When Zhu Di heard that a small country had presented giraffes as tribute during the Yongle Dynasty, he was happy at first, but after hearing what Liu Kuan said, he immediately realized that something was wrong.

Sure enough, Zhu Yuanzhang immediately said sarcastically, "Treating a giraffe to a Qilin signifies that a propitious animal has descended upon the Ming Dynasty and that the emperor is blessed by heaven. It seems that our Ming Dynasty's Yongle Emperor was very good at winning over the people."

Zhu Di broke out in a cold sweat and blamed Liu Kuan in his heart: Why did you bring up giraffes when introducing dinosaurs, and why did you bring me up too? Are you really picking on me?
To help Zhu Di out, Zhu Biao asked, "Brother-in-law, I saw a video where scientists from later generations used dinosaur blood sucked by mosquitoes over 100 million years ago in amber to resurrect dinosaurs using some kind of genetic cloning method. Is it really possible for future generations to do this?"

Liu Kuan paused for a moment, then said, "Your Highness, I have no idea how advanced biotechnology has become in the future. Even if reviving dinosaurs through technological means were possible, there would probably be some shortcomings."

At this time, Zhu Tan asked: "Teacher, are there any dinosaur fossils buried here?"

"Of course there are. The place where the most dinosaur fossils have been unearthed in my country in later generations is Zigong, Sichuan, followed by Zhucheng, Shandong, Heyuan, Guangdong, Lufeng, Yunnan, Ganzhou, Jiangxi, and other places."

"However, most dinosaur fossils are buried very deep, and excavation requires certain skills. I do not recommend excavating them at this time."

"Brother-in-law, there is a medicinal ingredient in traditional Chinese medicine called dragon bone. It is said that it is the animal bones excavated from the ground. Could it be a dinosaur fossil that was discovered accidentally?" King Zhou Zhu Su raised another question.

"Dragon bones..." Liu Kuan pondered, "That shouldn't be the case. There are actually many fossils buried underground. Dinosaur fossils are generally buried deep and are relatively rare, so dragon bones could be fish bones or bones from other ancient animals."

"For example, in the ice of the Far North, you can find ancient mammoths - these were larger than today's elephants, with long hair and larger tusks."

Are there mammoths frozen in the Arctic ice?
　First update.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)