Reaching Life's Mass Limit Took 24 Million Generations

Lifeforms need about 24 million generations to develop into something entirely different from what they once were; case in point: the rabbit-to-elephant transition. A new study found that this is the length of time needed to affect such impressive changes in a creature.

The same study found that it takes about 100,000 generations for a species to become a dwarf version of its former self. The researchers, based at the Arizona State University, said that land-based animals needed 10 million generations to grow to their largest possible mass (mammoths, elephants, whales, etc.)

The paper is published in the esteemed journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).

I find that this research totally puts evolution in a more manageable perspective, providing clear figures to hold on to during debates, or when trying to wrap your head around the timescales at which the process operates.