Video: Biologist studies NZ natives to determine what life on other planet may look like

There’s no debating evolution, but a debate remains among biologists over how it actually works. Is evolution deterministic in that its outcomes could not have been otherwise, or is it more random?

Harvard biologist Jonathan Losos defends the view that evolution is not deterministic, that it takes many different pathways to endpoints that are historically contingent. He explores New Zealand and says that in studying at our native animals, in particular, the kiwi show important implications for what life may look like on alien worlds, i.e. don’t expect any spacefaring T-Rexes.