Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

To: edsheppa
I pick the question of accounting for biological diversity. Tell me what "one natural explanation after another" have been ruled out after decades of study.

You are too smart to pick origin of life. Still, look at every known genetic error mechanism from point mutations to pseudogenes to extra chromosomes. There is no known genetic mechanism that can produce the vast volume of change that occurred at the Precambrian explosion, or any one of a half-dozen lesser explosion of variation that occurred after a long period of stasis.

I challenge YOU. Name the genetic mechanism that has produced a new family of animals. You need something that explains not the slowest rates of changes, not the average rate of change, but the fastest. So fast that we should have bred coon dogs that can climb trees like a cat if we had wanted to.

509 posted on 11/19/2002 2:41:51 PM PST by Ahban
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 476 | View Replies ]


To: Ahban
Had other stuff going on or I'd have got back to you sooner.

You're slip slidin' away again. You said "one natural explanation after another" had been ruled out. You cannot support this statement with there is no known genetic mechanism .... If you want to switch to that point instead, OK, but let's just make it clear that is a different statement.

BTW, just a side question. You mention pseudogenes. From your prior comments I assume you think the human race was specially created some tens of thousands of years ago and has no common ancestor with chimps or other apes. Yet I understand chimps and humans are not only closely related genetically in the coding sense but share pseudogenes too. If there is no family relationship, how do you explain that?

Now, what is a family? I know that its one level of the seven in taxonomic classification but not much more. Isn't the distinction between the levels arbitrary? I don't think they're even defined genetically, are they? If not why would you expect a genetic mechanism?

But let's assume (and I think this is generally accepted) that there is a strong correlation between taxonomic relatedness and genetic relatedness. To answer your question off the cuff, I'd say that there is no distinct genetic mechanism to account for family groupings. I expect that families groupings will naturally appear as a consequence of speciation and extinction. I expect that could even be modelled without too much trouble in a computer program. Might need some reality thrown in like mass extinctions. I'm guessing you won't like this answer.

530 posted on 11/20/2002 12:36:00 AM PST by edsheppa
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 509 | View Replies ]

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article


FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson