I love the idea that not only is there such a thing as a benthic Santa, but *multiple* benthic Santas, sufficient to have been prey.
But it poses questions: Did Santas evolve originally in the deep sea, and migrate upward? Or are deep sea Santas refugees from the upper world?
It must be an invasive species-sort of deal. There is only one Santa up above; this truth is immutable. However, its survival tactics aboveground allowed migrant generations to flourish underwater. Ecology was forced to rebalance and subsist on these invaders.
Title text: "Benthic Santas weren't even discovered until the 1970s, but many scientists now believe Christmas may have originally developed around hydrothermal vents and only later migrated to the surface."
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But it poses questions: Did Santas evolve originally in the deep sea, and migrate upward? Or are deep sea Santas refugees from the upper world?
Alt text: https://explainxkcd.com/2872#Transcript