Bruce Moomaw wrote:
>
> It should be pointed out, however, that multicellular organisms never
> evolved on Earth at all until the evolution of photosynthesis provided them
> with a much more efficient energy supply -- so it still seems overwhelmingly
> likely that all Europan life will be single-celled unless large amounts of
> photosynthesis are possible in water pockets or cracks very close to the
> surface (and that is an extremely big "if").
Only if you think in terrestrial terms. One possibility which springs to
mind would be a large colonies, perhaps even of subcellular creatures,
assembled on long strands of nonliving matter: horizontal stromatolites,
if you like. In the absence of competition & with the primary need to
collect as much nutrient from the Europan ocean as possible, these could
grow extremely long while still being organically incredibly simple.
All the best,
Robert Clements <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
==
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