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gluadys -> RE: Documented evolution of new functions and behaviors in bacteria (5/27/2008 2:56:48 PM)
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quote:
ORIGINAL: Jhud I appreciate cherry picking as much as the next guy, but science theories aren’t merely judged on what they purport to explain, but also on what they cannot – and neo-darwinism does a horrible job of explaining a number of things. One thing to be cautious of is faulting evolution for not explaining things which it does NOT purport to explain. I don't recall you personally falling into this trap often, but we do see it regularly. It is especially common to cite the "failure" of evolution to explain the origin of life. But this is not a failure of ToE since it does not purport to explain this. quote:
Among these are the various explosions of body plans Just how many times, in addition to the Cambrian, has there been an explosion of new body plans? My impression, which may be mistaken, is that virtually all body plans emerged in the Cambrian. Andrew Parker (In the Blink of an Eye) notes that "544 million years ago, there were indeed three animal phyla with their various body plans, but at 538 million years ago there were 38, the same number that exists today." This seems to contradict the implication that body plans emerged in great numbers in more than one "explosion". quote:
and taxa that have occurred throughout history, Well, "taxa" is a pretty general term. Every species is a taxon. As well as every genus, family, order and class. Niles Eldredge associates explosions of new taxa with a preceding period of mass extinction. He seems to have no difficulty with an evolutionary scenario. quote:
the phenomenal stasis that appears to occur in various lineages, Again, I am not certain why you think evolution does a poor job of explaining this. quote:
the very early information and structural complexity we find in life, I expect the chief difficulty here is lack of evidence. There is also the question of how much complexity emerged in the pre-biotic state and was already there with the first true cellular beings. quote:
the occurrence of multiple genetic attributes that anticipate later usage, That is an interesting one. Pre-adaptation is, in a sense, a necessity of natural selection, but how much time can separate a mutation and the new use of the gene is an unsolved mystery as yet. Is there a maximum limit? How often does co-optation enter the picture? quote:
the mechanisms that actually limit incidental modification of the genome, Again, I don't see what makes evolution a poor explanation of this. quote:
the occurrence of similar structures multiple times in separate lineages, or of this. quote:
the conservation of unexpressed genetic information across lineages, that's an interesting one. quote:
the fact that the basic vertebrate genome provides a structure that can be modified through regulation of extant rather than the acquisition of novel information, etc, etc, etc, I don't see any problem with an evolutionary explanation of this.
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