Preshistoric Jawbone Reveals Evolution Repeating Itself

University Of Chicago Chronicle ^ | 4-16-2005 | Catherine Gianaro

[blam]

GGG Ping.

[martin_fierro]

The discovery of a prehistoric jawbone, reported in February in the journal Science, suggests that the transformation of bones from the jaw into the small bones of the middle ear occurred at least twice in the evolutionary lines of living mammals after their split from a common ancestor some 200 million years ago.

I hadn't heard.

[muawiyah]

Yeah, I was thinking I must have dozed off or something. Gosh my ears are ringing. Wonder what does that?

[mikrofon]

Sounds like a cochlea-and-bull story to me.

[Ruddles]

Sounds like Bob Marley's "Stirrup Up" covered by M.C. Hammer with Anvil and the Chipmunks.

Hot Wax!

[elephantlips]

Horse crap!

[SunkenCiv]

Thanks Blam. Guffaws to martin_fierro, muawiyah, mikrofon, and Ruddles.

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[chickenlips]

Whew, I'm sure glad this happened so that those critters didn't have to depend on mime and charades for eons.

[VadeRetro]

Could be worth a ping for the list. The marsupial earbone question is a bone of contention with some of the more lawyerly creos.

[PatrickHenry]

We had a thread on this topic a few months ago. Lemme see if I can find it.

[PatrickHenry]

Yes. Posted 11 Feb: Ear-splitting discovery rocks mammal identity [Evolution, platypus].

[VadeRetro]

That thread clarified the problem. This article develops the likely explanation. The process started on the ancestral trunk but finished up independently on at least two branches.

[PatrickHenry]

You want me to break out the ping machine?

[VadeRetro]

Doesn't hurt.

[PatrickHenry]

EvolutionPing

A pro-evolution science list with over 260 names. See list's description at my homepage. FReepmail to be added/dropped.

[RightWhale]

Do all creatures have ears on the ends of their jawbones? Isn't there one that has ears on his knees?

[b_sharp]

"Do all creatures have ears on the ends of their jawbones? Isn't there one that has ears on his knees?"

Yes there is, and when I'm on my hands and knees I can't hear a thing my wife says.

[doc30]

I've heard elephants can 'hear' (if that's the appropriate word) ultra low frequencies through there feet and trunks.

I wonder if any modern animals have the same, or similar, structure as the species in this article

[Vaquero]

echidna and platyipus PING