• Members of the previous forum can retrieve their temporary password here, (login and check your PM).

Reptilian Experiences: A Taxonomical Observation

Migrated topic.
D

drscott

Rising Star

Beginning around 6:45 listen for the "continually advancing stages of the brain."

Humans quite literally have reptilian brain contained in their brain.
 
There was an article in New Scientist rubbishing the 'tree of life' way of lloking at things.
Apparently, while Darwin's ideas still hold some credence, a lot of evolution is in fact hybridisation, often due to viruses cutting and splicing genes from one animal into another. So snake DNA gets into a cow, for example. And metamorphosising animals, such as dragonflies, apparently are hybrids of two species that act more like one species for part of their life then more like the other for the next part. Very interesting.
 
When I said dragonflies that was my guess. The article talked about some kind of starfish and other animals.
So, HA to the videomakers! Evolution doesn't "explain it all". Gene migration plays a big part.

And sorry but I personally didn't like that video because it wasn't really intended to educate, but to ridicule... how on earth is anyone meant to take in all that information in the sped-up voice? Unnecessarily scientific words were used to try to make creationist viewers feel stupid.
 
ohayoco said:
When I said dragonflies that was my guess. The article talked about some kind of starfish and other animals.
So, HA to the videomakers! Evolution doesn't "explain it all". Gene migration plays a big part.
Click to expand...

'Gene migration' and 'evolution' are in different categories and can't be compared.

Gene migration is just another molecular mechanism that generates diversity for natural selection to act on. Darwin knew nothing of genes. He just knew that 1. There is variation in nature. 2. This variation is heritable.

Gene migration is not an alternative to evolution. It is an alternative to random mutations. Many other alternatives to random mutation too. You can have gene duplication or deletion for instance. There are many mechanisms in nature to foster and maintain diversity. Diversity = at least some critters will pack the gear to survive if the planet suddenly has a dramatic change.

It is useful to think of mechanisms that generate diversity as fuel for evolution by natural selection. The greater the number of forms a biological system can generate the greater the chance that some of these forms will be advantageous.
 
drscott said:

Beginning around 6:45 listen for the "continually advancing stages of the brain."

Humans quite literally have reptilian brain contained in their brain.
Click to expand...

It's true! Why would humans bother inventing a new machine to control breathing and moving and stuff. Much more economical to upgrade then rebuild a system of this complexity.

Our cerebral cortex is ridiculous. It's like the ultimate absurd logical extension of what a cortex could become. It's a massive sheet of very thin layered processing area packed into a really small space. This is literally why it is so wrinkly. Birds have some cerebral cortex too but its just a tiny smooth bump in front of their lizard brain. But they get to fly so don't feel bad for them :)

Mammals are the best at making cortex. We can make it faster because we're warm blooded and we can make it longer by brewing it in a womb. Humans take this to the extreme. Cortex development begins really early so it can go as long as possible and it continues for over ten years after birth. Cortex totally dominates the skull while the core body running gear has been miniaturized. Your midbrain and hindbrain is just as big as T-rexs! Remarkable!


I love phylogenetics! The tree of life is a very beautiful and unifying concept IMO. All creatures are related to us in the same spreading causality wave.

this is a fun phylogeny website:
IMO, the diversity of our living relatives is the most amazing and beautiful thing in the known universe. Too bad we're causing a mass extinction :(
 
Back
Top Bottom