Posted on 04/25/2006 3:47:53 AM PDT by PatrickHenry
Charles Darwin was fascinated by snakes — in particular, by the tiny hip and leg bones nestled inside boa constrictors and other species. They were some of the most striking cases of evolution's imprint. Snakes descended from walking ancestors, and as they adapted to slithering, their legs dwindled to a few vestiges.
It took more than a century after Darwin's death for paleontologists to find fossils of snakes with legs. In the last decade, they have found four species. The fourth, known as Najash rionegrini, was unveiled in the April 20 issue of the journal Nature, and it has reignited a debate about how snakes lost their legs.
[snip, as required by the NYT]
Dr. Zaher has added fresh fuel to this debate with his report on Najash rionegrini, of which he was a co-author with Sebastián Apesteguia of the Argentine Museum of Natural Sciences. Dr. Apesteguia discovered the 90-million-year-old fossil in 2003 in the Río Negro region of Argentina. The name Najash is the Hebrew word for the snake of the Garden of Eden. After finding the fossil, Dr. Apesteguia invited Dr. Zaher to help him study its anatomy.
"From the first moment, it was obvious to me that it was important snake," Dr. Zaher said.
[snip, as required by the NYT]
Dr. Zaher notes that Najash lived on land, a fact he says casts doubt on the ocean origin of snakes. Losing legs may instead have been an adaptation in early snakes for burrowing after prey.
[yet another snip]
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
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Let the speculation begin.
Flexibility? Able to move across any terrain and swim? Low to the ground so they can sneak up on prey (like birds) more easily? No legs, so movement is quieter?
But the jester has become king and will have his ACLU goon squad sue anybody who laughs.
In the case of liberal slitherers, it's obvious: Character is destiny.
" It is learned behaviour taught by political consultants."
and Lawyers
Ask Ted or Chuckie Schumer,Jessie,Rangel and the list goes on....
http://www.freerepublic.com/forum/a3af9e1165cec.htm
It was ignored too.
I'll state the obvious ... they were MADE that way - that's WHY they "slither"!
Gen. 3:14 14So the LORD God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this,
“Cursed are you above all the livestock
and all the wild animals!
You will crawl on your belly
and you will eat dust
all the days of your life.
Ah,
I thought someone would beat me to the punch! ha ha!
Slither = Politicians + Lawyers
Snakes have vestigial pelvic bones.
Whales have vestigial pelvic bones.
Ergo, we'd expect some affinity between the two species.
As predicted by this theory, where there are no snakes, there are no whales (Ireland), whereas in Wales, there are snakes.
Note: While we expect to find Snakes and Whales in the same ecosystem, if you take them out of their natural environment, and, say, confine them in an automobile, bad things may happen.
Kazoo you! Science requires both rigid formulas and the imagination to be able to see beyond, oh, let say a hymnal.
nice to see someone whose mind is locked up tight like a steel drum.
Ergo, we'd expect some affinity between the two species.
As predicted by this theory, where there are no snakes, there are no whales (Ireland), whereas in Wales, there are snakes.akes have vestigial pelvic bones. Whales have vestigial pelvic bones.
Who are you who are so wise in the ways of science?
I am Arthur, King of the Britons.
Yep - it was decreed by God, that snakes would slither, way before Darwin was a twinkle in his Daddy's eye.
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