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t sixteen species。 the scantiness ofthe record led to the widespread belief that dinosaurs were on their way out already when thekt impact occurred。
in the late 1980s a paleontologist from the milwaukee public museum； peter sheehan；decided to conduct an experiment。 using two hundred volunteers； he made a painstakingcensus of a well…defined； but also well…picked…over； area of the famous hell creek formationin montana。 sifting meticulously； the volunteers collected every last tooth and vertebra andchip of bone鈥攅verything that had been overlooked by previous diggers。 the work took threeyears。 when finished they found that they had more than tripled the global total of dinosaurfossils from the late cretaceous。 the survey established that dinosaurs remained numerousright up to the time of the kt impact。 鈥渢here is no reason to believe that the dinosaurs weredying out gradually during the last three million years of the cretaceous；鈥潯heehan reported。
we are so used to the notion of our own inevitability as life鈥檚 dominant species that it ishard to grasp that we are here only because of timely extraterrestrial bangs and other randomflukes。 the one thing we have in mon with all other living things is that for nearly fourbillion years our ancestors have managed to slip through a series of closing doors every timewe needed them to。 stephen jay gould expressed it succinctly in a well…known line： 鈥渉umansare here today because our particular line never fractured鈥攏ever once at any of the billionpoints that could have erased us from history。鈥�
we started this chapter with three points： life wants to be； life doesn鈥檛 always want to bemuch； life from time to time goes extinct。 to this we may add a fourth： life goes on。 andoften； as we shall see； it goes on in ways that are decidedly amazing。
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23 THE RICHNESS OF BEING
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here and there in the natural history museum in london； built into recesses along theunderlit corridors or standing between glass cases of minerals and ostrich eggs and a centuryor so of other productive clutter； are secret doors鈥攁t least secret in the sense that there isnothing about them to attract the visitor鈥檚 notice。 occasionally you might see someone withthe distracted manner and interestingly willful hair that mark the scholar emerge from one ofthe doors and hasten down a corridor； probably to disappear through another door a littlefurther on； but this is a relatively rare event。 for the most part the doors stay shut； giving nohint that beyond them exists another鈥攁 parallel鈥攏atural history museum as vast as； and inmany ways more wonderful than； the one the public knows and adores。
the natural history museum contains some seventy million objects from every realm oflife and every corner of the planet； with another hundred thousand or so added to thecollection each year； but it is really only behind the scenes that you get a sense of what atreasure house this is。 in cupboards and cabinets and long rooms full of close…packed shelvesare kept tens of thousands of pickled animals in bottles； millions of insects pinned to squaresof card； drawers of shiny mollusks； bones of dinosaurs； skulls of early humans； endlessfolders of neatly pressed plants。 it is a little like wandering through darwin鈥檚 brain。 the spiritroom alone holds fifteen miles of shelving containing jar upon jar of animals preserved inmethylated spirit。
back here are specimens collected by joseph banks in australia； alexander von humboldtin amazonia； darwin on the beagle voyage； and much else that is either very rare orhistorically important or both。 many people would love to get their hands on these things。 afew actually have。 in 1954 the museum acquired an outstanding ornithological collection fromthe estate of a devoted collector named richard meinertzhagen； author of birds of arabia；among other scholarly works。 meinertzhagen had been a faithful attendee of the museum foryears； ing almost daily to take notes for the production of his books and monographs。
when the crates arrived； the curators excitedly jimmied them open to see what they had beenleft and were surprised； to put it mildly； to discover that a very large number of specimensbore the museum鈥檚 own labels。 mr。 meinertzhagen； it turned out； had been helping himself totheir collections for years。 it also explained his habit of wearing a large overcoat even duringwarm weather。
a few years later a charming old regular in the mollusks department鈥斺�渜uite a distinguishedgentleman；鈥潯 was told鈥攚as caught inserting valued seashells into the hollow legs of hiszimmer frame。
鈥渋 don鈥檛 suppose there鈥檚 anything in here that somebody somewhere doesn鈥檛 covet；鈥�
richard fortey said with a thoughtful air as he gave me a tour of the beguiling world that isthe behind…the…scenes part of the museum。 we wandered through a confusion of departmentswhere people sat at large tables doing intent； investigative things with arthropods and palm fronds and boxes of yellowed bones。 everywhere there was an air of unhurried thoroughness；of people being engaged in a gigantic endeavor that could never be pleted and mustn鈥檛 berushed。 in 1967； i had read； the museum issued its report on the john murray expedition； anindian ocean survey； forty…four years after the expedition had concluded。 this is a worldwhere things move at their own pace； including a tiny lift fortey and i shared with a scholarlylooking elderly man with whom fortey chatted genially and familiarly as we proceededupwards at about the rate that sediments are laid down。
when the man departed； fortey said to me： 鈥渢hat was a very nice chap named normanwho鈥檚 spent forty…two years studying one species of plant； st。 john鈥檚 wort。 he retired in 1989；but he still es in every week。鈥�
鈥渉ow do you spend forty…two years on one species of plant？鈥潯 asked。
鈥渋t鈥檚 remarkable； isn鈥檛 it？鈥潯ortey agreed。 he thought for a moment。 鈥渉e鈥檚 very thoroughapparently。鈥潯he lift door opened to reveal a bricked…over opening。 fortey lookedconfounded。 鈥渢hat鈥檚 very strange；鈥潯e said。 鈥渢hat used to be botany back there。鈥潯e puncheda button for another floor； and we found our way at length to botany by means of backstaircases and discreet trespass through yet more departments where investigators toiledlovingly over once…living objects。 and so it was that i was introduced to len ellis and thequiet world of bryophytes鈥攎osses to the rest of us。
when emerson poetically noted that mosses favor the north sides of trees （鈥渢he moss uponthe forest bark； was pole…star when the night was dark鈥潱e really meant lichens； for in thenineteenth century mosses and lichens weren鈥檛 distinguished。 true mosses aren鈥檛 actuallyfussy about where they grow； so they are no good as natural passes。 in fact； mosses aren鈥檛actually much good for anything。 鈥減erhaps no great group of plants has so few uses；mercial or economic； as the mosses；鈥潯rote henry s。 conard； perhaps just a touch sadly；in how to know the mosses and liverworts； published in 1956 and still to be found on manylibrary shelves as almost the only attempt to popularize the subject。
they are； however； prolific。 even with lichens removed； bryophytes is a busy realm； withover ten thousand species contained within some seven hundred genera。 the plump andstately moss flora of britain and ireland by a。 j。 e。 smith runs to seven hundred pages； andbritain and ireland are by no means outstandingly mossy places。 鈥渢he tropics are where youfind the variety；鈥潯en ellis told me。 a quiet； spare man； he has been at the natural historymuseum for twenty…seven years and curator of the department since 1990。 鈥測ou can go outinto a place like the rain forests of malaysia and find new varieties with relative ease。 i didthat myself not long ago。 i looked down and there was a species that had never beenrecorded。鈥�
鈥渟o we don鈥檛 know how many species are still to be discovered？鈥�
鈥渙h； no。 no idea。鈥�
you might not think there would be that many people in the world prepared to devotelifetimes to the study of something so inescapably low key； but in fact moss people number inthe hundreds and they feel very strongly about their subject。 鈥渙h； yes；鈥潯llis told me； 鈥渢hemeetings can get very lively at times。鈥�
i asked him for an example of controversy。
鈥渨ell； here鈥檚 one inflicted on us by one of your countrymen；鈥潯e said； smiling lightly； andopened a hefty reference work containing illustrations of mosses whose most notablecharacteristic to the uninstructed eye was their uncanny similarity one to another。 鈥渢hat；鈥潯esaid； tapping a moss； 鈥渦sed to be one genus； drepanocladus。 now it鈥檚 been reorganized intothree： drepanocladus； wamstorfia； and hamatacoulis。鈥�
鈥渁nd did that lead to blows？鈥潯 asked perhaps a touch hopefully。
鈥渨ell； it made sense。 it made perfect sense。 but it meant a lot of reordering of collectionsand it put all the books out of date for a time； so there was a bit of； you know； grumbling。鈥�
mosses offer mysteries as well； he told me。 one famous case鈥攆amous to moss peopleanyway鈥攊nvolved a retiring type called hyophila stanfordensis； which was discovered on thecampu