--- title: "1 History Earth Quotes By Neil Shubin" description: "1 History Earth quotes by Neil Shubin. Plus more from Neil Shubin and more History Earth sayings from other authors." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7f6/neil-shubin-14335_algae_take-the-entire-4-5-billion-year-history_1529619.png" --- > [Take the entire 4.5-billion-year history of the earth and scale it down to a single year, with January 1 being the origin of the earth and midnight on December 31 being the present. Until June, the only organisms were single-celled…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-shubin/take-the-entire-4-5-billion-year-history-of-the-earth-and-scale-it/) [Neil Shubin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-shubin/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7f6/neil-shubin-14335_algae_take-the-entire-4-5-billion-year-history_1529619.png) ## More by Neil Shubin > [“... two little patches of tissue essentially control the development of the pattern of bones inside limbs. A strip of tissue at the extreme…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-shubin/two-little-patches-of-tissue-essentially-control-the-development-of/) [Neil Shubin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-shubin/) > [“In areas close to the ZPA, where there is a high concentration of this molecule, cells would respond by making a pinky. In the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-shubin/in-areas-close-to-the-zpa-where-there-is-a-high-concentration-of-this/) [Neil Shubin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-shubin/) > [“All the genetic switches that make fingers, arm bones, and toes do their thing during the third to eighth week after conception.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-shubin/all-the-genetic-switches-that-make-fingers-arm-bones-and-toes-do/) [Neil Shubin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-shubin/) > [“My building was constructed in 1896, and the utilities reflect an odd design that has been jerry-rigged further with each renovation. If you want…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-shubin/my-building-was-constructed-in-1896-and-the-utilities-reflect-an-odd/) [Neil Shubin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-shubin/) > [“So here is the trick to designing a new fossil expedition: find rocks that are of the right age, of the right type (sedimentary),…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-shubin/so-here-is-the-trick-to-designing-a-new-fossil-expedition-find-rocks/) [Neil Shubin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-shubin/) > [“Our hundreds of useless olfactory genes are left over from mammal ancestors who relied more heavily on the sense of smell to survive ...…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-shubin/our-hundreds-of-useless-olfactory-genes-are-left-over-from-mammal/) [Neil Shubin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-shubin/) > [“The retina absorbs the light via sensitive light-gathering cells ... In humans these cells make up about 70 percent of all the sensory cells…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-shubin/the-retina-absorbs-the-light-via-sensitive-light-gathering-cells-in/) [Neil Shubin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-shubin/) > [“Some fish, for example the lungfish, have the one bone at the base. Other fish, for example Eusthenopteron, have the one bone–two bones arrangement.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-shubin/some-fish-for-example-the-lungfish-have-the-one-bone-at-the-base/) [Neil Shubin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-shubin/) > [“The key to tooth development is that an interaction between these two layers of tissue, an outer sheet of cells and an inner loose…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-shubin/the-key-to-tooth-development-is-that-an-interaction-between-these-two/) [Neil Shubin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-shubin/) > [“The molecules that allow microbes to catch their prey and hold on to them are likely candidates for the molecules that form the rivet…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-shubin/the-molecules-that-allow-microbes-to-catch-their-prey-and-hold-on-to/) [Neil Shubin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-shubin/) > [“In a perfectly designed world —one with no history— we would not have to suffer everything from hemorrhoids to cancer.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-shubin/in-a-perfectly-designed-world-one-with-no-history-we-would-not-have/) [Neil Shubin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-shubin/) > [“Whole batteries of genes are turned on and off during fly development, and this pattern of gene activity serves to demarcate the different regions…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-shubin/whole-batteries-of-genes-are-turned-on-and-off-during-fly-development/) [Neil Shubin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-shubin/) > [“The first hard hydroxyapatite-containing body parts were teeth. Hard bones arose not to protect animals, but to eat them.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-shubin/the-first-hard-hydroxyapatite-containing-body-parts-were-teeth-hard/) [Neil Shubin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-shubin/) > [“Tiktaalik has a shoulder, elbow, and wrist composed of the same bones as an upper arm, forearm, and wrist in a human. When we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-shubin/tiktaalik-has-a-shoulder-elbow-and-wrist-composed-of-the-same-bones/) [Neil Shubin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-shubin/) > [“Our body dries out with every passing year; newborns are about 75 percent water, not much different from an average potato.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-shubin/our-body-dries-out-with-every-passing-year-newborns-are-about-75/) [Neil Shubin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-shubin/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "ItemList", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/history-earth/neil-shubin/#itemlist", "name": "1 History Earth Quotes By Neil Shubin", "numberOfItems": 1, "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Take the entire 4.5-billion-year history of the earth and scale it down to a single year, with January 1 being the origin of the earth and midnight on December 31 being the present. Until June, the only organisms were single-celled microbes, such as algae, bacteria, and amoebae. The first animal with a head did not appear until October. The first human appears on December 31. 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