It’s not always what’s said, but who says it. So, my first step? Look at authors, which exposes their bias – which in the case of scienists and academics — is their expertise or push.
Brian C. Thomas
https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=IeXiwoUAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=sra
Summary: BIG BOOM changes Earth ecosystem.
So, yes, this is his speciality.
Adrian Melott
https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=GWB114EAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=sra
Summary: authored and co-authored like HUNDREDS of papers. So, probably a big shot and supportive.
His Most cited papers are on large scale clusters, gravity, topology, etc. The right guy for details of “What’s happening far far far away”.
So: Not his specialty. BUT it ties in.
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Neither author is a specialist on evolution.
SO: I’d call this a “just-so story” as in:
“Guess what biologists? We astrophysicists nailed YOUR FIELD!”
Advice: Treat it as a fun story but know where it comes from.
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THAT SAID: It would be worth going through
Adrian Melott papers. It’s possible that one of his co-authors IS a specialist in evolution and he gained knowledge that way.
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