Although it is very likely that prehistoric piranha trapped in an underground lake evolving over millions of years in complete darkness would, like many deep sea creatures, have vestigial eyes, be true albinos (colorless like cave species) and have developed bio-luminescent capabilities, this would not occur without random mutations to the generic code. Unless there is distinct evolutionary pressure (competition, shortage of resources, visibility to predators, etc.), they would not necessarily evolve these changes (and vestigial structures only become as such if specific random mutations occur or there is a major energy cost to maintaining the active structure). However, things that are advantageous when unable to see would have to evolve for them to find prey, so it is realistic that the piranha developed a highly sensitive sense of smell, as is apparent from their swift attraction to blood from a significant distance.
The concept that a top predator could survive for several million years purely by cannibalism without an input of external energy is false. However, they could conceivably have survived if some source of energy was available to fuel the bottom of the food chain. As the underground lake was sealed from sunlight, one possibility is an ecosystem based on geothermal energy. Such ecosystems do, in fact, exist in the benthic zones. So, in theory, at least, the piranhas could have sustained themselves as top predator of a food chain that started with geothermal micro-organisms.
Scritto da il
05/03/2025 alle ore 07:31
Consiglia
Voto
Nessun dato in archivio
Commenti
Nessun dato in archivio
