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To: Havoc
A fully developed critter ain't a transition.

You cannot impose this upon evolution. All evolving creatures are fully developed, even while their populations are gradually morphing under environmental pressure into something utterly new. All the forms along the way are adapted to their environment, competitive, functional, "fully developed." People who suggest that a transitional has to be some kind of obviously unfit freak do not know what the theory of evolution says.

301 posted on 08/03/2004 4:55:42 PM PDT by VadeRetro
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To: VadeRetro
People who suggest that a transitional has to be some kind of obviously unfit freak do not know what the theory of evolution says.

Correct. A "transitional" is nothing more than an ancestor. It lived, it survived well enough to reproduce, and that's the deal. Your parents are "transitionals" between your grandparents and you. They are not one-half grandparents and one-half you. They are themselves.

As for the micro-macro issue (which hasn't surfaced yet but it's sure to arise), each ancestor in the chain of evolution, being fully evolved in its own generation, is capable of having mutated offspring, regardless of how many of its own ancestors did the same thing. There is no mechanism for keeping score. Natural selection is the only rule. The number if mutations which can appear in a line of descent that stretches back millions of generations is not limited by some arbitrary principle that says "thus far and no farther." Every creature that ever lived is capable of being part of a "transitional" species. And unless they go extinct, or find a congenial unchanging niche, they probably have been transitionals, or will in due course be seen to have been transitionals.

302 posted on 08/03/2004 5:13:05 PM PDT by PatrickHenry (Since 28 Oct 1999, #26,303, over 193 threads posted, and somehow never suspended.)
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To: VadeRetro
You cannot impose this upon evolution.

Evolution is a theory, sir.. not a forgone conclusion. And as such, I'm not imposing upon it. There are things expected to be seen and the evolution theory has been designed and redesigned to cop out on any real objection and divert attention from any honest problem with it. Sorry. You have not shown a transition. You have shown what you want to sell as one. We aren't buying.

306 posted on 08/03/2004 5:24:35 PM PDT by Havoc (.)
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