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You have to remember that not every creature that was evolving left behind its skull or its tools for our convenience tens of thousands of years later. Most bones or most tools rot or get buried and are never found again.

With the advent of genetic engineering the time required for the evolution of new species may literally collapse.

But if the technological Singularity can happen, it will.

Heads are a good deal, and I think they would be a common feature. It's hard to think of species that don't have heads, although there are some. It's good to have a head because it puts some of the sensory organs - eyes, ears, whiskers or whatever - next to the CPU, the brain.

How will the approach of the Singularity spread across the human world view?

Five or six hundred heads cut off would have assured your repose, freedom and happiness.

It's not beyond the possibility that there still could be a YES in 200 years' time... of course with different members, unless the medical profession comes up with something extraordinary.

In many ways, I think about the possibility that there could still be a Yes in 100 or 200 years from now, just like a live symphony orchestra.

One should not forget that there are very few surviving items from this period, often just single, small bones, a tooth, a sliver of the skull. Categorizing these pieces can be very difficult.