This photograph of Chile's Puyehue volcano, created by a minutes-long exposure, in capturing multiple lighting bolts in one image as though they had all occurred in a single instant, creates a metaphor for revisionary taxonomy. Because in a single generic revision we can study and compare complex derived characters that evolved over the course of hundreds of independent character transformations, driven by an indeterminate number of selection factors, we see in one grand image the whole multi-million-year history of a clade that would otherwise be visible only to an immortal. The grandeur in this taxonomic view of life is as spectacular, inspiring and shocking as this fantastic photo.
Source: http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2011/06/pictures/110606-chile-volcano-lightning-science-ash-eruption/
