2013-08-28
Explanation
This comic imagines dinosaurs reacting to an approaching asteroid. In the first panel, one dinosaur says "The asteroid'''s here" and another responds "We'''d better evolve into birds." They then chant "Evolve-volve-volve!" as if evolution is something that can be willed into existence on command. The remaining dinosaurs who did not "evolve" decide to stay underground until it is safe, declaring "No one will suspect a thing! Hahahaha!"
The comic then jumps forward 65 million years to show that the dinosaurs apparently survived by hiding underground. In the present day, the dinosaurs celebrate getting funding for an asteroid defense system, and one says "Let'''s go to the park to celebrate!" The joke is a completely absurd alternate history where dinosaurs never went extinct but instead have been living in hiding for millions of years and have developed their own civilization, complete with scientific funding and public parks.
The votey panel shows someone telling the dinosaur "That'''s not how evolution works" and the dinosaur retorting "You weren'''t there!" The comic plays on multiple scientific concepts: the real evolutionary link between dinosaurs and birds, the asteroid impact theory of dinosaur extinction, and the common misunderstanding that evolution is a deliberate, conscious process rather than one driven by natural selection over vast timescales. The idea of dinosaurs simply deciding to evolve is a playful jab at how people often mischaracterize evolution as goal-directed.