The end of Human kind
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350 Million Years of Reptiles, Dinosaurs – and the Long Road to Humanity
For over 350 million years, reptiles and dinosaurs ruled our planet , an unimaginably long era during which mammals, as we know them today, did not yet exist. But deep within that distant past stirred the beginnings of our own story: the origin of mammals and thus, of humankind.
The First Precursors of Mammals
Around 300 million years ago, during the late Carboniferous and early Permian periods, creatures emerged that can be considered the true ancestors of mammals: the synapsids. At first glance, they looked like reptiles strong-bodied, scaly-skinned, with jaws full of teeth. Yet within them already lay the potential for an entirely new class of animals.
The synapsids possessed differentiated teeth (incisors, canines, and molars), a more active metabolism, and possibly an early form of warm-bloodedness. Their most distinctive feature was the temporal opening behind the eye, through which strong jaw muscles passed, hence their name: synapsids (“with a connection”). Famous representatives include Dimetrodon, often mistaken for a dinosaur, with its striking dorsal sail and predatory appearance. Its herbivorous relative Edaphosaurus appeared more peaceful, yet both belonged to the same evolutionary lineage, one that would ultimately shape the future. Another early predator, Ophiacodon, also belongs to these fascinating pioneers.
The Next Step: The Therapsids
Roughly 270 to 200 million years ago, during the late Permian and early Triassic periods, the therapsids evolved from the synapsids, a more advanced and adaptable form. They already showed where evolution was heading: their posture became more upright, their teeth more specialized, and many species likely developed fur. These adaptations suggest they were warm-blooded and more active, much like modern mammals. Among them were striking predators such as the gorgonopsians, fearsome hunters with long, dagger-like fangs, and the cynodonts, the direct ancestors of true mammals. Species like Thrinaxodon and Cynognathus already displayed transitional features: a secondary palate that allowed simultaneous chewing and breathing, complex tooth structures, and possibly even parental care, behaviour rare in reptiles but typical in mammals.
350 Million Years of Reptiles, Dinosaurs – and the Long Road to Humanity
The Birth of True MammalsAbout 210 to 200 million years ago, during the late Triassic and early Jurassic periods, the first true mammals appeared. They were small, nimble, and nocturnal, hardly larger than mice. In a world dominated by dinosaurs, they survived in darkness, hidden in crevices and beneath roots. Species such as Morganucodon, Megazostrodon, and Eozostrodon already had fur, were warm-blooded, and fed on insects. They were inconspicuous, yet their evolution was revolutionary: from these tiny survivors would emerge an entire class of creatures, the mammals, whose story would ultimately lead to us, the humans.
Timeline Overview
Time: 300 million years ago / Evolutionary Stage: First synapsids / Example Species: Dimetrodon, Edaphosaurus // Time: 250 million years ago / Evolutionary Stage: Therapsids (transitional forms) / Example Species: Cynognathus, Gorgonopsians // Time: 200 million years ago / Evolutionary Stage: First true mammals / Example Species: Morganucodon, Megazostrodon
A Legacy of 350 Million Years
The history of mammals — and ultimately of humankind — did not begin with a great explosion, but with small, inconspicuous beings that survived in the shadows. They endured the greatest mass extinction in Earth’s history, adapted, and developed traits that made them nearly invincible: warmth, care, intelligence. Their legacy lives on in us — descendants of a lineage that took its first breath hundreds of millions of years ago.
Reflection
Around 420 million years ago, a journey began that no creature could have foreseen. From a humble ancestor of early land vertebrates emerged two evolutionary branches, one leading to bony fish, the other eventually to us: humankind. While the first true bony fish swam through primordial seas some 220 million years ago in the Triassic era, another branch ventured onto land, slowly, tentatively, over countless generations. From fins came legs. From gills came lungs. From reflex came consciousness. A process spanning incomprehensible ages, until finally, Homo sapiens appeared around 300,000 years ago, a being capable of thought, creation, dreams… and destruction.
What has humanity made of this unfathomably long evolution?
It has prevailed, against its relatives, the Neanderthals and other human species. It has conquered the Earth, not through wisdom, but through power. Long before the industrial age, even before the last ice age, humanity had already exterminated species older and mightier than itself: the mammoth, the giant sloth, the cave lion. Today, after millions of years of survival, humankind stands on the brink of self-destruction. We call it progress, but it is merely another form of downfall.
Corruption, greed, and obsession with power shape the course of the world. Names like Orbán, Putin, Trump, or Lukashenko are merely the visible faces of a deeper disease: human arrogance.
Yes, there are attempts to change course, summits, promises, appeals such as those at COP30 in Brazil. But they ring hollow, like the last words spoken on a sinking ship. The being that once rose from the depths of the ocean has become the greatest enemy of life itself.
- Too foolish to understand.
- Too greedy to abstain.
- Too power-hungry to preserve.
And deep down, we all know: Perhaps two hundred, or five hundred, years are all we have left. The belief that reason will triumph over greed has become a bitter joke, a laugh that dies in one’s throat. The next generation will live through summers burning beyond 40 degrees Celsius. And when one day the Earth falls silent again, it will heal, without us.
Because nature does not need humankind.
But humankind has long since lost nature.
