Mammals – Page 47

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Convergence: Explanation or Rescue Device?

January 26, 2010

The news media are telling us that bats and dolphins both hit on the same genetic pathway to evolve echolocation – even though they are on vastly different evolutionary lineages and use echolocation differently (one in air, one in water). Since it is inconceivable that a putative shrew-like common ancestor of these very different animals […]

Dumb Ideas

Chimps Produce Movie

January 25, 2010

The BBC is going to air a movie made by chimpanzees. (Note: This is not a Planet of the Apes remake.) A primatologist working on her PhD gave some chimps at the Edinburgh zoo a “Chimpcam,” a camcorder in a “chimp-proof” box, to see what they would come up with. “Despite the fact that the […]

Darwin and Evolution

Evolutionary Biogeography Requires Imagination

January 22, 2010

Biogeography – the study of the distribution of species – has been an important part of evolutionary theory, and has often been used as evidence for evolution. Some recent findings about plants and animals should give scientists caution about trying to divine too much evolutionary history from locations of present-day organisms and fossils. […]

Darwin and Evolution

Dogs for Darwin

January 21, 2010

Science Daily shamelessly announced, “‘Survival of the Cutest’ Proves Darwin Right.” Chris Klingenberg and Abby Drake, who published a study on mammal skull shapes in American Naturalist on dog breeds, said, “This study illustrates the power of Darwinian selection with so much variation produced in such a short period of time. The evidence […]

Darwin and Evolution

Evidence for Evolution, or for Uncontroversial Variation?

December 24, 2009

Science papers and articles often announce promising new evidence for evolution. To distinguish Darwinian evolution from creation, though, requires evidence of a certain magnitude. The staunchest Biblical creationist allows for a great deal of variation within kinds. When evidences for evolution are announced, do they rise to the level of change Darwin theorized – like […]

Fossils

Evolution News From Down Unda

December 18, 2009

Australia and New Zealand contain some of the most unique and distinctive flora and fauna in the world. Evolutionary explanations for some of these animals and plants have come to light in the press recently. Koala: Did you know there are extinct koalas? Science Daily reported about work by Aussie biologists to understand the evolution […]

Education

Debunker Busters

December 17, 2009

Often in science reports, new findings debunk previously held beliefs. But then, a thoughtful reader might ask, didn’t the previously held belief debunk a belief prior to that? Sometimes it gets difficult to believe the current belief has any credibility, when the debunkers turn on each other. A dilemma about dilemmas: Psychologists and philosophers have […]

Birds

Contenders Vie for Stupid Evolution Quote of the Week

December 13, 2009

Creation-Evolution Headlines needs reader feedback to rank this week’s winners. Some of these articles are so over the top, giving Darwin credit for anything and everything, it’s a wonder the Darwinists themselves don’t censor them – just to avoid public embarrassment. Evolve! Sing Along: New Scientist is letting you take part in the evolutionary process […]

Dinosaurs

Darwin vs. the Fossils

December 11, 2009

What could be more iconic to evolution than dinosaurs and the horse series? Museums often display skeletons of these animals as proof of evolution. The real story told in scientific papers is often very different. Two recent studies present major, serious challenges to Darwin’s theory. Horse series: The old straight-line chart of horse evolution from […]

Dumb Ideas

Evolutionary Explanations Assume Evolution Explains

December 4, 2009

The facility with which some evolutionary biologists appeal to almost magical powers of evolution to explain anything and everything is revealed in some recent science articles. Whatever needs explaining is due to evolution – evidence or not. These four examples can be considered representative of the genre. The evolution of shopping: Both PhysOrg and Science […]

Amazing Facts

Giraffe Has Supercharged Heart

November 22, 2009

In many ways, the giraffe has been an icon of evolution. Why, and how, did it get its long neck? These questions have often been the focal point of a clash of Darwinian and Lamarckian explanations. Today, many just assume it evolved somehow. For instance, BBC News article stated flatly, “A giraffe’s heart has evolved […]

Birds

Evolutionary Explanation Is Always a Work in Progress

November 19, 2009

As evolutionary biologists examine diverse plants and animals, it seems they are never able to give a definitive answer as to how they got that way. Their work merely begins or continues to search for clues. Like mothers, their work is never done. At least this provides them job security. Box jellyfish: There are about […]

Genetics

Polar Bears and Grizzlies Hybridize

November 4, 2009

What do you get when you cross a polar bear with a grizzly bear? It’s not a joke; look at the BBC News and see. You get bears with mixed shades of fur and a blend of characteristics. Live Science also commented on the BBC report. Scientists have known that these species can […]

Mammals

How a Biotoxin Evolved

November 2, 2009

What do shrews and lizards have in common? Not much, but two species developed the same toxin in their digestive enzymes, giving them both a poisonous bite. Science Daily said a harmless digestive enzyme became overactive through three related changes. “What had been a mild anticoagulant in the salivary glands of both species has become […]

Dumb Ideas

Beethoven: It All Began With a Thump

October 17, 2009

Live Science in all seriousness, “When monkeys drum, they activate brain networks linked with communication, new findings that suggest a common origin of primate vocal and nonvocal communication systems and shed light on the origins of language and music.” Choi reported on work at the Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics to determine […]

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