I do a lot of driving, and during that time I have a lot of time to ponder(keeps the voices in my head at bay,lol)
Here are a couple of thoughts
Why are there so many varieties of trees and especially within certain groups like oaks, red, white, pin…. What is the “evolutionary” benefit to that?
This lead me to fruit trees. Ostensibly the fruits of the trees are simply seed pods, but most trees don’t go to that extreme. Takes lots of energy to grow an apple or a pear compared to other tree seeds. One person said it is so animals eat them and then spread the seeds…, but my response was, have you ever been walking through the woods and came across an apple tree or pear tree. Sure there are examples, but I have done a lot of hiking in my days and never have.
Could it be that these trees were created as a good food source for others, mind you a good source for others is not an evolutionary benefit for the tree.
That lead me to(yup lots of time) to chicken eggs. Again what’s the evolutionary benefit to the chicken to lay a consumable egg, nearly one a day, to the chicken? Benefits is, gives us a nice food source, but to the chicken it is again a highly energy intensive effort with little if any benefit to them. Additionally name me any other bird that does the same egg laying pattern.
Lastly and not my thought but someone else’s that made me think, say the lightning strike on the ooze created the first life, did it also create the food source to feed this life
Random thoughts sparked by this thread
You seem to be asking questions in good faith - i.e., you don't seem to be attempting to "bait" anyone here - so permit me to take a crack at answering!
(Full Disclosure: Am not a biologist, but I know the difference between a man and a woman. Ha-ha!)
Don't fixate on "evolutionary benefit."
Evolution is not perfect, nor can it react instantaneously. Makeshift "fixes," poor fits, bad "legacy code," improvisations, "junk" DNA, etc. are the rule.
An imperfect analogy (since automobile design is, of course, intentional - i.e., "guided" by behind-the-scene actors with agendas all their own, and not the strict result solely of mechanical and aerodynamic factors; however, there are similarities), but consider for a moment the diversity of car makes; are they really justified by geographical or other different factors impacting the basic "job" that cars have to perform?
Also: If you walk into a parking lot, and spot one VW Beetle with a different color fender, and maybe a funny bumper sticker, and a pair of fuzzy dice hanging from the rear view mirror - If you were an other-worldly observer visiting our planet for the first time, you might wonder why those diff. features "came about." (Given the assumption that the only / basic goal is to get from point "A" to "B.") You might notice that the tread on the left rear tire is (worn) different from that of the other tires. "What possible benefit could that have?" you might wonder. You notice that the titanium concentration in the rear bumper is 113 ppm, but only 95 ppm in the front bumper: "Why go to all that extra effort to have diff. concentrations?" And that bird poop on the windshield! "What purpose does that serve?"
The above is not meant to be a "slam-dunk" answer or explanation; I'm not making any falsifiable claims, just trying to prompt you to think about it.
Again what’s the evolutionary benefit to the chicken to lay a consumable egg, nearly one a day, to the chicken?
Seriously?! Chickens in the wild don't do that! Like asking how bananas could possibly evolve to fit the human hand so perfectly! (Hint: They didn't.)
Lastly and not my thought but someone else’s that made me think, say the lightning strike on the ooze created the first life, did it also create the food source to feed this life
Now I'm not so sure you aren't trying to bait and/or "pwn" us! The first organisms were undoubtedly heterotrophic - e.g., deriving their metabolic energy from the chemical reduction of, say, iron compounds.
Regards,