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'Darwin's finches' revert to type
english.aljazeera.net ^ | May 4, 2006

Posted on 05/08/2006 1:17:07 PM PDT by mlc9852

Human interaction with animals could be causing evolution to go into reverse, says a report by the Royal Society, Britain's science academy.

A study of finches on the Galapagos Islands in the Pacific – finches are the same birds that were said to have inspired Charles Darwin's groundbreaking work on evolution - has shown that some could be losing their distinctive beaks in response to living near humans.

Finches on the islands have developed different sizes of beak - but when people live in close proximity to the birds, their beaks revert to an intermediate size, the report says.

Andrew Hendry, a professor at McGill University in Montreal who led the study, told the Independent newspaper that the evolutionary split within the species was being reversed.

(Excerpt) Read more at english.aljazeera.net ...


TOPICS: Heated Discussion
KEYWORDS: creation; creationping; crevo; crevodebates; crevolist; darwinsfinches; evofraud; evolution; evolutionfraud; finches; galapogos; pepperedmoths; reverseevolution
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1 posted on 05/08/2006 1:17:08 PM PDT by mlc9852
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To: mlc9852

Just like the moths in europe that were in my old textbooks. The moths got darker as the pollution/soot got on the trees and made the trees darker. And now that the pollution problems (from the 50's and 60's), the trees are lighter and the moths are getting lighter.

Actually the moths themselves have always been the same color. Its just the NUMBER of moths of "each" color that had changed. Just like these birds.


2 posted on 05/08/2006 1:22:38 PM PDT by geopyg ("I would rather have a clean gov't than one where -quote- 1st Amend. rights are respected." J.McCain)
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To: geopyg
their beaks revert to an intermediate size

So now the birds have a smaller pecker?
3 posted on 05/08/2006 1:23:36 PM PDT by P-40 (http://www.590klbj.com/forum/index.php?referrerid=1854)
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To: mlc9852
So now they're devolving into a lower lifeform?

We are DEVO. D-E-V-O.

(But seriously, this just shows variation about the genetic mean, which is all that's ever been observed.)

4 posted on 05/08/2006 1:23:53 PM PDT by mikeus_maximus
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To: mlc9852

The only answer is for human beings to exterminate themselves so that large-beaked finches may survive and flourish.


5 posted on 05/08/2006 1:27:12 PM PDT by PBRSTREETGANG
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To: mlc9852

Ahh, micro-evolution at it's best.


6 posted on 05/08/2006 1:27:23 PM PDT by raynearhood ("Government does not solve problems; it subsidizes them."- Ronald Reagan)
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To: mikeus_maximus

I've always thought of the left wing fringe as devolved; the RAT party seems to be devolving - its the only rational explanation for the elevation of Nancy Pelosi....


7 posted on 05/08/2006 1:27:43 PM PDT by 45Auto (Big holes are (almost) always better.)
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To: mlc9852

people have been breeding animals for all of known history, this is news?


8 posted on 05/08/2006 1:27:53 PM PDT by kinoxi
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To: PBRSTREETGANG

ROTFLMAO


9 posted on 05/08/2006 1:28:16 PM PDT by raynearhood ("Government does not solve problems; it subsidizes them."- Ronald Reagan)
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To: Zionist Conspirator

Le plus ca change . . .


10 posted on 05/08/2006 1:28:54 PM PDT by wideawake
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To: mlc9852

As opposed to writing longhand?


11 posted on 05/08/2006 1:28:56 PM PDT by SouthTexas (Viva la Migra!)
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To: mlc9852
Human interaction with animals could be causing evolution to go into reverse...

Sigh.

12 posted on 05/08/2006 1:29:54 PM PDT by M203M4
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To: mlc9852
I really don't have anything to add, except the source of this is from an aljazeera.net server? I thought that area of the globe stopped evolving arround 800 years ago.
13 posted on 05/08/2006 1:30:16 PM PDT by GreenAccord (David Blaine tries to hold breath in water for 9 minutes, 2 secs more than Ted Kennedy's 1969 record)
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To: SouthTexas

har har hardy har har...


14 posted on 05/08/2006 1:31:14 PM PDT by ovrtaxt (My donation to the GOP went here instead: http://www.minutemanhq.com/hq/index.php)
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To: GreenAccord

http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=143&art_id=qw1146727088990I531

Same article, different title. Using Al jazeera as a source bothered me, too. So, I googled it.


15 posted on 05/08/2006 1:32:31 PM PDT by raynearhood ("Government does not solve problems; it subsidizes them."- Ronald Reagan)
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To: mlc9852

Bush's fault.


16 posted on 05/08/2006 1:33:30 PM PDT by Elpasser
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To: 45Auto

I see Nancy as more of a deletorious mutation. In nature 99% of all mutations are fatal. We weren't that lucky in her case :)


17 posted on 05/08/2006 1:33:42 PM PDT by mikeus_maximus
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To: raynearhood

Al-jazeera has a lot of news about all sorts of things. Of course, it's always better to have more than one source.


18 posted on 05/08/2006 1:33:43 PM PDT by mlc9852
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To: P-40

PFFFT!..........


19 posted on 05/08/2006 1:35:44 PM PDT by Red Badger (In warfare there are no constant conditions. --- The Art of War by SunTzu)
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To: geopyg
Actually the moths themselves have always been the same color. Its just the NUMBER of moths of "each" color that had changed. Just like these birds.

That's called a change in the allele frequency. In other words, evolution.

20 posted on 05/08/2006 1:36:22 PM PDT by js1138
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