Posted on 05/17/2005 11:53:21 AM PDT by doc30
I'm not sure what you mean. A mutation can certainly dissapear from a species if the mutation has a negative effect.
Baloney.
Developing those plates required a lot of energy and if there is anything biology demonstrates it is that living organisms don't waste energy needlessly - its too expensive from a cost effective perspective.
Even rudimentary spurs at the rear of Booid snakes, the remnants of the pelvic girdle, serve a function - they "stimulate the female during courtship.
These guys should go back to the drawing board. If something exists, it exists for a reason - even if we haven't been able to figure it out definitively.
God doesn't place dice with the Universe" - Albert Einstein.
Okay - thanks. Like natural selection in reverse?
No, just plain old natural selection. A mutation that has a negative effect puts an individual with that mutation at a disadvantage when it comes to surviving and passing on that mutation.
Might have something to do with their speed and/or agility or their position when they eat. Seems if you were a bending down to eat critter, you'd want those obviously exposed parts protected. And then too, perhaps it's just some sort of structural support system.
Well you just didn't read it carefully enough, without the plating how could a bird tell another bird of the same species from a stegosaur? It's all bloody obvious.
Name some "neutral traits". There are not a lot of superfluous features found in nature that I can see.
If you look at a stegosaur skeleton, it becomes apparent that the size of those plates and spikes relative to the mass of the entire animal was significant.
If the sole purpose was sex or species identification, I'd say it was overkill. We're not talking a rack of antlers here.
Lizards and snakes have no problem using just color, and bird plumage has other funtions than merely sexual or species identification.
I think these guys are off the wall in their analysis.
In humans? Hair color. Detached versus attached earlobes. Eye color. Varying thickness of body hair.
We all await the the lucid, logical and consistent creationist explanation of Stegosour Plates.
I agree. A few hundred million years are plenty of time to come up with a more economical way of species identification than developing, nourishing, and lugging around huge plates.
Hair color- sunlight absorbtion, different lattitudes?
Detached versus attached earlobes- heat radiation, retention
Eye color- light thing again?
Varying thickness of body hair- environmental protection, heat/cold, job working in blackberry bushes?
Not sure that fits. Dark hair is more common in warm temperatures. What's the advantage of absorbing extra heat in your head in Africa or Australia?
Detached versus attached earlobes- heat radiation, retention
How much of a difference would the couple of square inches involved really make?
Eye color- light thing again?
Not that I'm aware of.
Varying thickness of body hair- environmental protection, heat/cold, job working in blackberry bushes?
Human hair is never thick enough to make a difference when it comes to temperature or protection.
I'll mention another one- the ability to "fold" one's tongue.
Thanks for the support.
Why wouldn't the better heat absorbing darker haired people be in the northern latitudes and the blonds be in the zero area?
I have parrots, too, and I agree with your line of thinking. Since birds and dinosaurs have a close evolutionary relationship, I would not be surprised if some bird behaviour would be found in dinosaurs as well.
Or the horns of a triceratops were used like deer and moose use their today - rutting season jousting for mates.
And that useful feature may be nothing more than to be attractive to a mate. In other words, a purely cosmetic adaptation that lacks a physical function.
Darker hair may not relate to temperature, but it sure would help protect from UV - i.e. sunburn and scin cancer. The top of the head and shoulders gets direct sun exposure.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.