Here on the rugged and bare continents there were no droning insects, no footprints, no trees, no shrubs—nothing. Life on land was relegated to a few damp patches of liverwort hugging the shore. Farther inland was an endlessly bleak and dusty wasteland. This was so long ago that rivers didn’t even meander yet—the rooting plants that would have held back their banks would not exist for tens of millions of years. The day was 20 hours long and the night sky was filled with unfamiliar constellations.
