How Long Does it Take to Evolve?

Evolution doesn’t happen overnight: large changes in body size take a long time. There have been increases and decreases in mammal size following the extinction of the dinosaurs 65 million years ago. Now biologists estimate that a mouse-to-elephant size change would take at least 24 million generations, based on the maximum speed of evolution in the fossil record.

PhysOrg.com quotes researcher Alistair Evans as saying, "A less dramatic change, such as rabbit-sized to elephant-sized, takes 10 million generations."Huge sea mammals, such as whales, took about half that number of generations to reach their current size.

So have these gigantic creatures stopped getting bigger or will they keep on evolving–and growing?

This is what happened in the past, but what will happen in the future? As we begin the countdown to that dreaded date of December, 2012 (NOTE: Subscribers can still listen to this show), we wonder if you can imagine a time machine that is actually a PAINTING created by a group of CIA agents hiding out in what appears to be a mental institution? This incredible idea is the plot behind Whitley Strieber’s incredible novel The Omega Point, which is available in hardcover or paperback from the Whitley Strieber Collection (and it will come with an autographed bookplate, designed by Whitley!)

There is evolution of a species and there is evolution of a single human mind, too. We’re proud to say that we think our annual Dreamland Festival has a LOT to do with that second type of evolution, because our attendees hear NEW information (not the same old stuff you hear at every UFO convention) from our delightful Dreamland hosts (NOTE: Subscribers can still listen to this show too). But if YOU want to evolve, don’t delay–we sell out every year.