Central American Songbird Provides Confirmation of Intelligent Design

AP | 3/31/2005 | AP

[Condorman]

Central American Songbird Provides Confirmation of Intelligent Design

Lincoln, NE (AP) - Researchers at the University of Nebraska have, for the first time, confirmed a prediction of the controversial theory known as intelligent design, or ID.  The unexpected discovery was made by Paavamanti Ashook and Jessica Aylesworth, two graduate students working under the direction of Dr. Peter Harl, a professor in the Department of Biology at the University of Nebraska, while they were sequencing a section of the genetic code for the turquoise-browed motmot, Eumomota superciliosa, a Central American songbird.

During the relatively routine procedure, the research team uncovered a gene in the turquoise-browed motmot that does not appear in any of its nearest relatives.  “It came as a complete surprise,” said Aylesworth, “when we showed Dr. Harl he went to the lab and reran the sequence himself.”

 “What we found is a gene with no evolutionary precursor,” said Dr. Harl. “There is no homologous gene in any other species of motmot. There's nothing like it in any other kingfisher that we can tell.  It looks like someone stuck in an extra gene in the middle of the genome when no one was looking.  At this point, the theory of evolution cannot provide a satisfactory answer.  ID provides an explanation that works.”

ID is the scientific theory that evolution was guided is some way by an intelligent force, and was the subject of a controversial court ruling in Dover, PA last December in which the school board was forbidden from mandating ID as part of the science curriculum.  Although the theory refuses to identify the designer, many adherents claim that the designer is God.  According to one interpretation of the theory, some animals will contain certain features without a direct evolutionary pathway, as if the designer inserted or deleted a component of the species independent of the commonly accepted forces of natural selection.

“We will need to do more research,” Ashook said, “In the meantime, this definitely causes problems for evolution. But as a scientist I have to choice but to follow the evidence.”

The team’s results will be published in the next issue of the journal The Natural World.

[Dimensio]

I know where I'll be on Sunday morning.

Passed out and hung over again?

[js1138]

[Virginia-American]

Let me get this straight. These people are claiming that Mitochondria, whatever they are, contain DNA?!

[Senator Bedfellow]

No, that was the old me - that was also true on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Wednesday, Saturday, and Friday mornings. This is the new me. Sunday mornings are for something else now.

[ahayes]

No, no, those are midichlorians.

[A knight without armor]

Yes. It is a fancy little guy. See the picture at: http://aviary.owls.com/motmot/motmot.html

[b_sharp]

I give up.

I've been at this for just about 4 years now and to find out that all of that time has been wasted is just to much to take.

All I can say is, the IDists were right, I was wrong... c'est la vie.

Auf Wiedersehen.

[CarolinaGuitarman]

"Let me get this straight. These people are claiming that Mitochondria, whatever they are, contain DNA?! "

Only from the male side.

From the article I posted:

"As a clonally transmitted marker, the distribution of the paternally inherited mtDNA will reflect founder or rare immigration events...."

[peyton randolph]

Thanks for the ping. This does indeed change everything.

Believe I'll send a check to the Discovery Institute to help fund the ID research of Dr. Olaf Lipsor.

[Filo]

Good one! :)

I'm a big fan of this day myself. ;)

[PatrickHenry]

This does indeed change everything.

Yes, the evidence is difficult to deny.

[Dimensio]

Sunday mornings are for something else now.

I do not understand the significance. If you are referring to religious worship, does that not contradict the claims of ID proponents who have repeatedly assured the public that Intelligent Design is not religious in nature?

[bd476]

Condorman wrote: "I think they got the title wrong, though. In the picture, the motmot looks more like a kingfisher."

The bird pictured above does bear some physical resemblance to Kingfishers found in jungle areas, for example the Biak Paradise Kingfisher found in New Guinea.

Biak Paradise Kingfisher



Malachite Kingfisher


National Bird of Nicauragua Turquoise Browed Mot Mot

Noteworthy differences between jungle dwelling Kingfishers and the Turquoise Browed Mot Mot are the distinguished body colorations, the colored brow (turquoise colored in the Turquoise-Browed Mot Mot) the long tail extensions, crests often noticed on Kingfishers and the vocal differences.

[CarolinaGuitarman]

" The bird pictured above does bear some physical resemblance to Kingfishers found in jungle areas, for example the Biak Paradise Kingfisher found in New Guinea."

This would tend to corroborate the common design premise.

[Ichneumon]

There are intricate irreducibly complex marvels tucked away in genome that await an appropriate trigger.

There are? Name one, and explain a) how you've determined that it's "irreducibly complex", b) what definition of "irreducibly complex" you're using, and c) that evolution itself could not produce a feature which was "irreducibly complex" in that manner (if that's what you're trying to imply).

Indeed, natural selection could be the sole trigger and be perfectly consistent with ID theory.

What is this "ID theory" of which you speak? Could you describe it for us? I know what "ID" is, but what scientific *theory* do you think there is concerning it? I've been waiting for that one for quite some time. Everyone talks about it, but no one seems to know what it is. Note that something has to have specific features before it can actually be properly called a "theory", make sure your response covers those criteria.

[Senator Bedfellow]

I'm sorry, it's over. It's all over. They've got us. We always knew all along that this "it could be aliens!" thing was just silly. Time to get your life squared away, my man.

[ahayes]

Give it up, Ichneumon. We've been beat.

[RightWingAtheist]

Ahhh, April Fool's Day...

[ahayes]

SHH!! ;-)

[wallcrawlr]

^{Revelation 4:11}Intelligent Design
Constantly searching for objectivity in the evolution debate...
See my profile for info