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Thread: What Darwin didn't know.

  1. #51
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    but mules are not always sterile even with the extra cromosome

    Contrary to textbooks, mules are not always sterile, said Leah Patton, an executive with the American Donkey and Mule Society, a Lewisville, Texas, group that keeps a formal registry of mules and donkeys.

    "There have been about 50 recorded cases in the past 200 years," said Patton. "It is very, very rare, but there have been some cases where it has been genetically proven that a mare mule has given birth after being covered by a jack or a stallion."
    http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/s...lonedmule.html
    \"He who shall introduce into public affairs the principles of primitive Christianity will change the face of the world.\"
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  2. #52
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    I think the human body is the absolute worse example of physical evolution. We are the mutants Our skin is so thin even a small scratch, we're bleeding, and infection is probable to some degree or another. Most of us don't have a lot of hair or feathers to protect us from the cold so we have to wear clothes. The only mammal that has to. We have not adapted to our current environment, we need protection from the sun, etc. A microscopic ameba can give you the squirts and kill you. A spiker bite can rot our flesh, the slime off a tiny frog will give us a dirt nap. And we are destroying our environment. Even the otter takes a dump up on land and not in his watery environment. We suck, we are not the fittest. The shark is. To my understanding it is the only mammal that does not get cancer, etc. And yet we are on top of the food chain?

    cheers
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  3. #53
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    Actually the human body is a great example of evolution. Not to sound trite or anything but what Agent Smith said in the matrix is pretty damn good analogy. We are a lot more lieka virus than an animal. HOWEVER this is mainly due to the way we have evolved. We already know that at a much earlier time humans were a lot fuzzier and had thicker skin. What you need to think about is that fact that we MAY, this is all my opinion, have evolved beyond the point where we need to evolve to survive in our enviroment, instead we have evolved the ability to change our enviroment to suite us. Now yes i know that other animals can change the enviroment to some extent to fit thier needs such as burrow for shelter, but none of these changes are great enough to allow any animal to 'shed' some of its evolved qualities such as the hair/fur and thick skin.
    \"He who shall introduce into public affairs the principles of primitive Christianity will change the face of the world.\"
    Benjamin Franklin

  4. #54
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    For as smart as we have become, we sure are dumb...

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    I think it is interesting how it somewhat no longer applies to humans... because WE stop some sorts of natural selection...

    All you kids out there that were Caesarean Section wouldn't be born. Oh yeah and your mum's wouldn't be alive either... Natural selection for wide hips? O_o

    What does this mean for the future of human evolution?

  6. #56
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    This is what happens when a non-native species is introduced into an ecosystem it is unfamiliar with, if they are aggressive and there are no natural predators, then they basically take over.

    Alien Species Hit Parade

    The World Conservation Union/IUCN has prepared a pamphlet identifying 100 of the world's worst invasive alien species. Some of the more catastrophic invasions include:

    Zebra mussels, a mollusk originally from Asia, have wreaked havoc on native mussel and fish populations throughout the Great Lakes region and in the large navigable rivers of the eastern Mississippi drainage including the Mississippi, Tennessee, Cumberland, Ohio, Arkansas, and Illinois rivers. They can also be found in the Hudson River on the Atlantic Slope.

    Lake Victoria has been blanketed with water hyacinth plants, crowding out native vegetation and animal species and making boat travel on the lake nearly impossible in many areas. Despite an aggressive campaign to eliminate the species two years ago, water hyacinths appear to be reinvading much of the lake.

    The comb jelly (Mnemiopsis leidyi) introduced to the Black Sea via the shipping industry in the early 1980s, now comprises up to 95 percent of the biomass in the Black Sea. It feeds on zooplankton, eggs and fish larvae, and is responsible for reducing anchovy stocks and the subsequent collapse of a fishery worth U.S. $250 million a year.

    The brown tree snake (Boiga irregularis) was introduced on Guam in the early 1950s. Since then, 12 species of birds have disappeared from the island and several other species are close to extinction. Up to 13,000 snakes per square mile may occur in some forested areas of Guam. Snakes crawling on electrical lines have caused more than 1,200 power outages since 1978, damaging electrical equipment and causing a significant economic burden.

    Two species that have established themselves in Florida in the last two years haven't yet made the "worst" list.

    Asian swamp eels have colonized in many of Florida's waterways, and are threatening to colonize in the Everglades.

    Giant pink jellyfish (Drymonema dalmatina) native to the Caribbean have drifted into the Gulf of Mexico and are cannibalizing common moon jellyfish. The pink jellyfish grow to three feet in diameter, and their tentacles can reach 70 feet (21 meters). The species, first seen in early September 2000, have been seen from the west coast of Florida to west Louisiana. In some parts of the Gulf, scientists have counted thousands of these jellyfish per square mile.
    http://news.nationalgeographic.com/n...akehead_2.html

    Is it Natural Selection or Evolution when a Mosquito can adapt with newer generations of types that develop a resistance to insecticides, or viruses that become stronger then the Antivirus Medicine such as Penicillan, is the germ evolving or is it mutating to get by the defences....IMO I think mutation is a form of evolving, only faster because of outside influences that are man made....
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  7. #57
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    Mr. Anderson, we meet again.....

    The Matrix
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  8. #58
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    We already know that at a much earlier time humans were a lot fuzzier and had thicker skin.
    Your found the missing link after all these years
    have evolved beyond the point where we need to evolve to survive in our enviroment,...
    Interesting thought. Since the advent of the computer do we sit on our butts more frequently than ever before? If so are we going to start developing wider asses and pointer fingers for the keyboards?

    A classic example: I have been playing the guitar for over 30 years, the fingers on my left are much thinner and vastly different from those of my right. Additionally the fingers on the left hand have a distinct hardened flat spot on each finger where they press against the strings. Has my hand evolved to better suit the environment it is/was frequently subjected to?

    cheers
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  9. #59
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    Is it Natural Selection or Evolution when a Mosquito can adapt with newer generations of types that develop a resistance to insecticides, or viruses that become stronger then the Antivirus Medicine such as Penicillan, is the germ evolving or is it mutating to get by the defences....IMO I think mutation is a form of evolving, only faster because of outside influences that are man made....
    It is both. Keep in mind that natural selection is one of many devices by which evolution progresses.


    Your found the missing link after all these years
    Not quite but remember the few frozen 'oldies' we have found in various ice structures, they have tougher skin and longer/more hair.

    I have been playing the guitar for over 30 years, the fingers on my left are much thinner and vastly different from those of my right. Additionally the fingers on the left hand have a distinct hardened flat spot on each finger where they press against the strings. Has my hand evolved to better suit the environment it is/was frequently subjected to?
    I would have to say no on this one. IMO evolution has to contain an element of a change in DNA, wether it is a mutation in the DNA caused by a random occurance, or a specific portion of a population whos DNA lets them survive better. Your fingertips gettin callouses is actually you skin dieing, which is why you can ***** yourself with a pin there and feel little tono pain, and i know you have tried this at one time or another,
    \"He who shall introduce into public affairs the principles of primitive Christianity will change the face of the world.\"
    Benjamin Franklin

  10. #60
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    ...i know you have tried this at one time or another...
    That sounds like experience talking or someone peeking in the window...lol

    Regardless of a DNA change or not, and some of the music I used to play in the earlier years would have definitely caused a DNA change in most living things, my hand has evolved to better suit the environment is frequently subjected to. So some of evolution may be accomplished without a DNA change?

    cheers
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