‘Paleontologists (and evolutionary biologists in general) are famous for their facility in devising plausible stories; but they often forget that plausible stories need not be true.’
S.J. Gould, D.M. Raup, J. Sepkoski, L.J.M. Schopf, and D.S. Simberloff, ‘The shape of evolution: A comparison of real and random clades’. Paleobiology, vol. 3 (1), 1977, p.34.