Our planet has given birth to the cuttlefish, the mandrill, and the oak. Over billions of years, a great diversity of life has filled our oceans, skies, forests, and grasslands. Marine biologists have gazed in wonder at the canny anglerfish, the dazzling nudibranch, and a vast array of living corals; ornithologists have admired the red-headed woodpecker and the ruffed grouse; botanists have traced the family history connecting the fern, the morning glory, the sunflower, and the palm. To…