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Originally Posted by Johnny1A.2
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As I ponder it, I begin to suspect that there might be many orders missing from our knowledge even yet, and the further back we go, the more so. Esp. since even an entire taxonomic order doesn't necessarily have to be all that numerous in terms of member-species.
That doesn't prove such an order existed, of course, but I don't think we can rule it out with any confidence based on the fossil record, either.
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Hypothetical orders would have to be very localized geographically in regions with poor fossilization, small, or lacking easy to identify hard parts.
But we're imagining sapient creatures, not a new beetle.
To hide entire types of animals within the last 100 million years would require a rather absurd series of hoops for them to have leapt through to make things reasonable. Unless we invoke something supernatural or literal aliens.