Pedgerow wrote:...would it be possible for a non-monkey to evolve into a human, given the right circumstances and enough time?
Pedgerow wrote:Like, if I had a laboratory with its own controlled ecosystem, and millions of years, is there anything stopping me from "naturally" selecting giraffes, or polar bears, or ducks, until they are indistinguishable from the humans we have now?
Pedgerow wrote:So what I'm really asking is: is there a chance, however small, that I evolved from a bear instead of a monkey?
Pedgerow wrote:What are the limits to evolution, if any?
Pedgerow wrote:One question I have always had about evolution, for about 15 years now: would it be possible for a non-monkey to evolve into a human, given the right circumstances and enough time? Like, if I had a laboratory with its own controlled ecosystem, and millions of years, is there anything stopping me from "naturally" selecting giraffes, or polar bears, or ducks, until they are indistinguishable from the humans we have now? Giraffes evolved long necks; they can evolve short necks too. Then they can evolve to walk on their back legs and not have tails and to develop opposable thumbs and so on, until they look just like people. I think it's called convergent evolution. So what I'm really asking is: is there a chance, however small, that I evolved from a bear instead of a monkey? What are the limits to evolution, if any?
SandTea wrote:Just first off, that is not really a coherent question. Humans and apes share a common ancestor. One didn't turn into the other.
cmsellers wrote:Cladistically, ... apes are ... monkeys.
A Combustible Lemon wrote:Death is an archaic concept for simpleminded commonfolk, not Victorian scientist whales.
Anglerphobe wrote:Are implying the Sellers was assassinated by Ray Comfort?
A Combustible Lemon wrote:Death is an archaic concept for simpleminded commonfolk, not Victorian scientist whales.
Anglerphobe wrote:Are implying the Sellers was assassinated by Ray Comfort?
Anglerphobe wrote:Is it possible for an organism to speciate as a result of human selection? Are there any examples of this happening?
SandTea wrote:The most well known would be something like monsanto corn
cmsellers wrote:Was there a specific example you were thinking of?
Anglerphobe wrote:Is it known whether any made the conversion from land dwelling and air breathing to water dwelling and breathing or did they all simply retain water adaptations from their ancestors and thus never fully adapt to life out of the water in the first place?
SandTea wrote:No idea but that question does bring to mind something like things I've seen with those external frond like gills. No idea of their evolutionary history though and now I'm curious about them. Might take a dive into that.
A Combustible Lemon wrote:Death is an archaic concept for simpleminded commonfolk, not Victorian scientist whales.
CarrieVS wrote:Anglerphobe wrote:Are implying the Sellers was assassinated by Ray Comfort?
Nope. I'd never heard of that guy until I googled him just now. You get two more guesses.
The vertebrae and long bones of some pterosaurs were hollow. This would have made the animals considerably lighter and therefore more effective flyers. Even with this reduction in weight, some of the larger pterosaurs may have had difficulties taking off from the ground. It has been suggested that large taxa may have leapt off of trees or cliffs to take off, but some aerodynamic studies suggest that even the largest species could have taken off from a running or flapping start (though see below for a discussion of running abilities in pterosaurs).
Like modern birds, pterosaurs had an enlarged sternum for the attachment of flight muscles. Many pterosaurs were probably strong flyers, but questions remain regarding giant taxa, such as Pteranodon and Quetzalcoatlus. Some research suggests that large pterosaurs were obligate gliders, while some suggest that they were capable of powered flight.
Pterosaurs first appeared in the late Triassic Period and roamed the skies until the end of the Cretaceous Period (228 to 66 million years ago), according to an article published in 2008 in the German scientific journal Zitteliana. Pterosaurs lived among the dinosaurs and became extinct around the same time, but they were not dinosaurs. Rather, pterosaurs were flying reptiles.
[EDIT: snipped a bit of "more links" type stuff which I accidentally included via copy n' paste}
There are at least 130 valid pterosaur genera, according to David Hone, a paleontologist at Queen Mary University of London. They were widespread and lived in numerous locations across the globe, from China to Germany to the Americas.
Pterosaurs first appeared in the late Triassic Period and roamed the skies until the end of the Cretaceous Period (228 to 66 million years ago), according to an article published in 2008 in the German scientific journal Zitteliana. Pterosaurs lived among the dinosaurs and became extinct around the same time, but they were not dinosaurs. Rather, pterosaurs were flying reptiles.
Modern birds didn't descend from pterosaurs; birds' ancestors were small, feathered, terrestrial dinosaurs.
Bats have normal mammalian bones, but they’re very slender and delicate to reduce weight. The wing bones in particular are quite flexible.
A Combustible Lemon wrote:Death is an archaic concept for simpleminded commonfolk, not Victorian scientist whales.
CarrieVS wrote:*cries*
But the turtle moves.
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