Posted on 02/24/2007 4:59:17 AM PST by Pharmboy
Elaine Morgan is the Aquatic Ape Theory woman. She's a unique individual...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Punctuated_equilibrium
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phyletic_gradualism
But what about the Yugo/Hummer split or the Greyhound Bus/tank ancestry?
Primary Literature by Jonathan Marks
Benveniste, Raoul E. and Todaro, George J. (1976) Evolution of type C viral genes: Evidence for an Asian origin of man. Nature, 261:101-107. This study also applied DNA hybridization to the apes. They found a 3-way split.
socrates.berkeley.edu/~jonmarks/biblio.html
The inoperative Vitamin C gene in humans and apes is "junk". Since the last common ancestor to humans and apes lost the ability to fabricate Vitamin C (primates having a high Vitamin C diet, so the gene was not necessary for survival), that gene has acquired more DNA trash over the ages. Study of that specific gene sequence, and the number of mutations it has acquired away from a functional gene, can be used to map the evolution of primate species, and provide evidence for dating.
Evolution theory would predict that these mutations would map according to other morphological changes in primates, and the dates of the divergence. And indeed the changes do map the earlier conclusions. The predictive power of Evolution theory was demonstrated once again.
It's too bad that the ID hypothesis gives no predictions. It would be cool to know what the Designer of the universe had in mind, or perhaps what techniques we could deduce, and perhaps copy, from the Designer. Unfortunately that road is barren.
The amount of inoperative structural genes is extremely modest compared to the regulatory genes that MAKE them inoperative. Regulatory genes: that's the ticket.
The "Vitamin C" gene and it's mutations in primates has been well studied. If humans and primates required this gene to survive, then evolution would ensure that the gene stayed operative when individuals with mutations died. With an inoperative Vitamin C gene, allowed by a high Vitamin C diet, the gene began accumulating errors, and thus can map species splits and act as a timer.
Arguments about whether the rest of the genome is "junk" or are regulatory genes is irrelevant to studies of this specific DNA sequence.
One thing that IDers ignore is that DNA mutations *do* occur. Without the effects of evolution to correct these errors by allowing individuals with damaging mutations to die, then all "kinds" would have died off from harmful mutations, leaving the earth sterile. This is how evolution "guides" the species DNA along a path of survival, and the corollary is that if the path to survival (i.e. the environment) changes, that the species itself will be guided by the same survival mechanism to change.
Once you demonstrate that the environment via evolution "corrects" the genome to allow survival, and then demonstrate that the environment can vary over location and time, then the fact that evolution of species occurs is obvious.
That’s just not right.
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