The invention of agriculture near the beginning of the Holocene Epoch about 11,000 years ago, particularly the selection for seed and the cultivation of cereal grains (wheat, oats, rice, rye, barley, corn, etc.) changed the structure of society forever. Grain surpluses led to grain storage, which led to urban populations, which ultimately led to the emergence of civilizations. This simple cascade of events had dramatic consequences. Curiously, these cereal grains are grasses, which emerged very recently in geological time about 30 million years ago.