[Condorman]

Looks like ID may finally have produced a result. Now play nice. It's all fun and games, till someone loses an eye.

[Condorman]

What do you think? One for the ping list?

[MineralMan]

Hmm...an unexplained gene in this very attractive bird. And that's evidence of Intelligent Design? I don't see how.

Is it yet to be explained? Perhaps. Is it evidence of ID? Again, it is evidence only that there is a gene unique to this species in that position. Why? Well...more study is needed.

Were I an ID advocate, I'd be just as cautious as anyone about proclaiming this as proof of that odd hypothesis.

[IllumiNaughtyByNature]

I have to ask, in that picture is that its tail hanging way down that far?

[Admin Moderator]

Please provide a working link to this article. Thanks.

[AndrewC]

“What we found is a gene with no evolutionary precursor,”

Nice, but I would like to see the raw data, not that I don't trust an AP story...

[JCEccles]

What do we call this, the April 1 gene?

A weak attempt at humor that unitentionally may track with the sort of the thing that actually happens.

There are intricate irreducibly complex marvels tucked away in genome that await an appropriate trigger. One of those triggers almost certainly is natural selection. Indeed, natural selection could be the sole trigger and be perfectly consistent with ID theory.

[El Sordo]

Spontaneous or chaotic mutation?

[Quick1]

Brilliant little April Fools joke!

[jec41]

HA

[CarolinaGuitarman]

"Looks like ID may finally have produced a result."

This is indeed intriguing. I've met Dr. Harl before, and if he backs this then I have no choice but to believe it. I am also very familiar with The Natural World . It's a pretty respectable journal.

This could change our entire understanding of biology. Fascinating read!

[Stultis]

Good try, but too late. Darwin Central has already sprung into action. Dr. Peter Harl? WHAT "Dr. Peter Harl"? The entire "University of Nebraska" from the historical record too if need be. Bwahahahahahaha!

[curiosity]

There's no link to the source. What gives?

[bd476]

The researchers undoubtedly would have saved Federal grant money, time and trouble had they consulted a reputable ornithologist prior to trekking into the jungles of Central America in their Intelligent Design research.

It is without dispute among leading ornithologists that the British Bluetit preceded or, wrote the song, if you will, the creation or evolution of the Central American turquoise browed mot mot.

The British Bluetit has also been long revered for its rapturous song.


Listen to the bird sing.

[CarolinaGuitarman]

I did a little more research and found out that the gene that these researchers found, the BS 4u gene, may not be quite as new as this report makes it sound. It is polylitally zygometic with a gene, BS ru, found in a closely related species, Hylomanes momotula . We'll just have to see how this holds up.

[Filo]

Good one! :)

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

[RightWingAtheist]

Ahhh, April Fool's Day...

[wallcrawlr]

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

[VadeRetro]

Glad to see you're still here. Hope it's still true on April 2.

[curmudgeonII]

Interesting. But hardly "proof".

[<1/1,000,000th%]

Looks like we'll have to wait for details.

It's unusual that there are no links to this story in any of the usual suspects' websites.

And it's unusual that the University of Nebraska doesn't list a Dr. Peter Harl on their faculty.

But they'll get published, I'm sure.

I don't see how this is evidence for ID in any case. ID doesn't believe in genes. And it's still just a songbird.