Posted on 01/13/2009 8:14:51 PM PST by cacoethes_resipisco
Through history, as natural selection played its part in the development of modern man, many of the useful functions and parts of the human body become unnecessary. What is most fascinating is that many of these parts of the body still remain in some form so we can see the progress of evolution. This list covers the ten most significant evolutionary changes that have taken place - leaving signs behind them.
(Excerpt) Read more at listverse.com ...
Interesting.
I was dissapointed. I was expecting to see a list of anatomical changes that appear to be new within the last 2 or 3 thousand years. The dissapearance of wisdom teeth in some people would be a perfect example.
> I was dissapointed. I was expecting to see a list of
> anatomical changes that appear to be new within the last
> 2 or 3 thousand years.
Wisdom teeth, Darwin’s point, and the Plantaris muscle all made the list, and they would all seem to be just that kind of change.
Creationist answers Top 10 Signs of Evolution in Modern Man point-for-point.
http://creationontheweb.com/content/view/5811/
Good read, thanks for posting.
How is darwin’s point and the plantaris muscle an example?
Anyway, I was hoping for a bigger list.
“Even if this were true, it provides no support for evolution because evolution requires new structures to arise naturalistically. Rather, loss of teeth is just another example of degeneration, which fits perfectly within the biblical worldview of Creation and Fall.”
Why do they have trouble telling the truth?
What is the truth of the matter as you see it?
> How is darwin’s point and the plantaris muscle an example?
The plantaris muscle no longer exists in 9% of humans. Darwin’s point is missing in 90%. Both exist at 100% in all our nearest relations, so they’ve been more or less slowly breeding out of the human population as we no longer need/use them. The extrinsic ear muscles, that are only able to slightly wiggle the ears, and that only in a subset of humans, would be another fine example.
A couple of these could be in error. Recent hypotheses are that the appendix performs the useful service of being a reservoir of the intestinal flora essential to digestion. Since food poisoning and other bowel problems are common in the wild, this could have been vital in maximizing food nutrition.
And recent discoveries are also casting into doubt the label of “junk DNA”, which may not be so useless after all, but perform critical protein control functions.
bump for later reading
One I read of is the attachment of the gut to the back surface of the abdominal cavity, in common with quadrupeds, for whom it makes sense. For us, according to the source, it is a liability, and leads to complications in senescence.
> And recent discoveries are also casting into doubt the
> label of “junk DNA”, which may not be so useless after
> all, but perform critical protein control functions.
I wouldn’t be surprised if large sections of the genome currently considered “junk” didn’t have some usefulness. There are some bits, though, like the broken piece that used to allow our ancestors to synthesize vitamin C, that probably deserve the label “junk”.
Eight percent of men are color blind so doesn’t that prove color sight is being lost like the plantaris?
You aren’t understanding my post. I wanted to see evidence of anatomical changes IN THE LAST 2 OR 3 THOUSAND YEARS.
Not millions.
Human teeth are changing just in the last 10 or 20 generations. that’s 3 to 5 hundred years. Get it?
tHere’s no indication that the percent retaining darwin’s point has declined IN THE SLIGHTEST in the last couple thousand years. At least not in this article. ditto for the leg muscle.
I’m not to familiar with the plantaris muscle, other than it is considered “vestigal.”
> Creationist answers Top 10 Signs of Evolution in Modern
> Man point-for-point.
So what you’re saying is that the original, higher, perfect man had an elongated jaw, fully mobile, upright ears, and prehensile feet?
From :
“Discover” And Here’s Why You Have an Appendix:
When you’re sick, it re-boots your gut with good bacteria.
by Josie Glausiusz
published online January 15, 2008:
“......it acts as a reservoir of healthy, protective bacteria that can replenish the intestine after a bacteria-depleting diarrheal illness like cholera.....”
Makes sense for humans to have one too it seems.
We’re all DEVO !
It’s true. What traits are being selected for ? I ask you.
I just wanna know when we get to sprout wings
always wanted to do that... just cant get my jeans to cooperate darnit!
....The presence
of interdigitations strengthen the argument that the plantaris muscle supplement
the activity of the lateral head of the gastrocnemius muscle whereas the
patellar extension suggests an involvement with patellofemoral dynamics and
may play a role in the various presentations of patellofemoral pain syndrome.”
The gastrocnemius in the above is one of the big muscles in the calf and plantaris is thought to help this muscle rather act as a strong muscle its self. But for all the talk of it's being useless, a more honest statement would be that we don't know it's function in humans.
Ignorance of function certainly is not proof of no function, as with “junk” DNA, appendix, etc.
Since you seem to type pretty well I guess you haven’t lost your opposable thumbs yet so you’re safe for now.
I find the article long on opinion and then even longer on opinion. But that’s me.
You’ve heard of eyeglasses haven’t you? How do you account for them ?
#9 The nasal organ: I can identify which children are mine in a dark room by their scent. (Not “smell”, but scent,two different things.) My ex-wife was fine until she had mental problems, shock treatments and drug treatments. Afterward her scent changed, like onions. Lost my sex urge for her. Years later I met a woman I was drawn to, I didn’t understand it until I got close enough to pick up the scent (not perfume or anything else) of her skin.At first she thought I was nuts to want to smell her skin,which turned me on. Best Experience of my life. Eventually discovered she grooved on my scent. No aftershave or cologne, just my scent. Not as nuts as it sounds; even science has suggested scent is how we pick our mates, regardless of what we think it was.
My forearms have fairly light hair on them but they do retain warmth when raised. I have tested that.
#9 - false: Humans are born with the Jacobson’s organ, but in early development its abilities dwindle to a point that it is useless.
For crying out loud. Decades of studies have been done showing the affects of human pheromones on the opposite sex and the same sex. (Male pheromones stimulate aggressiveness in other males.)
#2 - Case wasn't even made: but we did not lose the need do have a use for the coccyx: it now functions as a support structure for various muscles and a support for a person when he sits down and leans back. The coccyx also supports the position of the anus.
Then millions of years later space aliens opened up offices selling these naturally forming objects and the rest is history.
What is the survival value of wiggling one’s ears; what is the selection pressure behind it; please quantify?
Check with your local YE creationist.
They claim that 4300 years ago, Noah saved the the 'cat' kind in his ark.
This 'cat' kind begat lions, tigers, panthers, hyenas (yes, hyenas are felines), leopards, jaguars, pumas, cheetahs, the lynx, caracals, and bobcats, not to mention Fluffy the house cat.
If that ain't evolution ...
Since you brought up the bible...I’m going to throw out a very vague memory of mine and see if anyone with bible knowledge can back it up for me.
When I was a kid, I sorta remember my dad(or possibly a grandfather) telling me that someone in the bible was touched on the leg by god or perhaps it was an angel...and after that, one of his leg muscles withered up and became useless. Every one of his offsprings was born with the same withered useless leg muscle.
I am wondering if this leg muscle described in the article is the one I remember in the story?
If you look up “Eli Grubman” on Google Groups, you will find that some humans missed out on evolution.
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