I'm now beginning to wonder about that whole group of weird lifeforms that don't quite fit, like they're a really good but ultimately flawed attempt to create an 'earthlike' form. Like Arnie trying to blend in, in Terminator 2. The slime molds, tardigrades, marsupials, and the epiphytes!

The kind of things that creationists latch onto as proof that God exists, because they're so freaky that no way could they just be like Galapagan finch beak adaptations.

But what if the whole time they were actually aliens? Like Ford Prefect in H2G2, they kind of skimped on their research and came up with a slightly askew disguise. And then were amazed to realise that far from blowing their cover, they ended up on the cover of National Geographic - and no one batted an eyelid except to congratulate them on their otherworldly freakiness!

Maybe their friends are on their way. Three-eyed undersea bats and nitrogen-breathing frogs that develop into tadpoles.

Hmmmm....