Monday, August 30, 2010
Was Darwin Wrong ? An Alternative Theory Emerges
Until now, Charles Darwin's concept of survival of the fittest and natural selection has been considered the key to the evolution of all living things.
But a new study by researchers at the University of Bristol England and published in Biology Letters suggests "living space," not competition between species , is responsible for evolutionary patterns throughout history.
Using fossils to focus on land animals , the research team suggests that animals have survived more easily in favorable environments that offered more food and less chance of being hunted and eaten by other animals.
At Yale University in Connecticut , evolutionary biologist Stephen Stearns isn't convinced by the study findings.
"they have an interesting pattern , but I think they misinterpreted it. basically, what they show is that a lot of evolution is driven by organisms moving into new roles or onto land or into new areas , and they argue that's evidence that competition is not so important," Stearns said.
Stearns, the author of "The Evolution of Life Histories" ( Oxford, 1992 ) says it doesn't make sense for animals to just pack up and move from one environment to another . "Why would they move if everything was comfortable where they were ? So, competition probably is one of the things that drove them into the new environment," he said.
"It's a trade-off: Should I stay here and deal with what I've got here, or should I go somewhere else ? Well, going somewhere else is always a challenge, because wherever you have been, you're always pretty well adapted to that , and for the only reason to go somewhere else is if the conditions here are deteriorating."
One of the authors of the British study, Mike Benton, told the BBC that "competition did not play a big role in the overall pattern of evolution."
"Even though mammals lived beside dinosaurs for 60 million years, they were not able to out-compete the dominant reptules. But when the dinosaurs went extinct, mammals quickly filled the empty niches they left and today, mammals dominate the land." But Stearns says the pattern the British researches have documented isn't sufficient evidence to determine what actually caused the pattern.
Overtime , he said , "conditions are probably going to be deteriorating because other organisms are evolving to be better at extracting resources from your environment than you are , or they're evolving to be better at eating you. "I think they overinterpreted their results when they claimed that they can conclude that competition wasn't driving it.
Stearns explains the concept of "living space" doesn't only relate to a location or a physical place where animals live.
When you're talking about 'living space,' it's not really geography - it's like, what role do you play in the community ? You can't really have squirrels until you have trees. That's what they mean by 'living space.' While Stearns and the British researchers don't see eye to eye, he welcomes the study because it fuels scientific debate. And because evolution is an ongoing , long process, he believes the study will add to scientific knowledge.
It will have a standard academic impact, and there will be some critical commentary and other people will see if they can actually replicate the results - scientists don't usually believe a result until it's been independently replicated, and that hasn't happen yet.
Just a thought : "After it has been criticized and sifted and we know what parts of it stand up , it might become the textbook for evolution . But surely Darwin can't be all wrong.
Why can't the two theories co-exist? Why can't evolution be a cocktail of cicrcumstances like everything else on earth? Some from column A and some from column B.
Hi cutie..whatcha ya doing ???
ReplyDeleteDid you have a great time at the party ??? Best of of all did the 'ROCK' behave.
The weather is cooler here and it is a welcome relief.
ReplyDeleteWhat's Nana doing ?? Is she being our favoriate Nana ? I hope so.
I think it is a combination of the two theories. Like almost everything in life it is a cocktail
ReplyDeleteof things.
Hi there, the party was great.
How was your weekend?
The rock got drunk, jumped on a table, dropped his pants and did the jiggle dance for all the ladies. They all stuffed $20 bills in his butt crack.
ReplyDeleteIt was great , barbeque and cooked fish as you know they will party about anything.
ReplyDeleteOh you are so funny...you wouldn't let that happen in a millin years.
ReplyDeleteWhy, you ask ? The jigglely dance is only for you...HA !
I meant a million years.
ReplyDeleteBoy I must be drunk, I have been screwing up all afternoon, but don't you tell anyone, okay.
Glad you had a good time.It was nice and sunny here but not unbearably hot. Now it is heating up again.Lots of hurricanes down your way I see.
ReplyDeleteYes we have 3 working and they say this is going to be a rough season.
ReplyDeleteI think that why we have cool off, the weather man just said we may get rain tomorrow.
Incoming
ReplyDeleteI hope Jonny liked the barbeque and party atmosphere and joined in the fun.
ReplyDeleteYou and the girls are going to have a lot of fun showing him new and exciting things he has never seen before.
ReplyDeleteINCOMING MAIL
ReplyDeleteRoger
ReplyDeleteJonny love barbeque/fish.
ReplyDeleteMy girls is so proud of their big brother and I think Jonny is going to like books to, they went to Paris Saturday and he loved the pretty pictures and asked Sha could she read it and she told him no...but some words she knew.
The girls can't wait til tomorrow to take him to the firm to show him off.
I read the Madonna and I had to put my 2 cents in..where was the James guy the first 3 years of the child's life ? He just wants a hand out..No country will let a child go until they check for relatives. Jonny dad had no say ,he's a 3 time loser but the courts are informing him he no longer has a son.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad Jonny's dad has been informed he no longer has any rights where Jonny is concerned. It makes it a little less likely that he will look Jonny up when he gets out of jail.The more safeguards the better.
ReplyDeleteOnce he knows how to read he will be caotivated by books. Ask a librarian or bookstore salesperson what are the most popular boys books right now. My boys like the 'Diary of a Wimpy Kid "' series right now. Jonny may need something a little simpler to start like 'Captain Underpants' which has a lot of funny pictures.
INCOMING
ReplyDeleteThe so-called biological dad is a phony. He is a scam artist out to make a few bucks or get something tangible out of the deal. If he is real then he is guilty of rape and vicious assault.
ReplyDeleteWe go to the library and Barnes & Noble bookstore.
ReplyDeleteSha reads on a 4th grade level and Jill reads on a 2nd grade level. Jonny asked Jill what a word was, Jill told him I don't know ask your daddy.
Dad will enjoy taking them to the bookstore in the big car [limo]
THANKYOU
Thankyou for your input PIC. I always take what you say seriously.
ReplyDeleteWhen that fool gets out of jail if ever Jonny will be old enough to have kids of his own.
ReplyDeleteIt will be 20/25 years before he can come up for parole..murderers get off easier.
You are very welcome...I always look at things head-on and if I help you see things in a different light so much the better.
ReplyDeleteYou was there for me these last few years when I was ranting, PIC you have no idea how you/Sis kept me sane.
Boy you got that right. Some murderers walk away free as a bird. Depends on what you got and who you know.
ReplyDeleteNot a lot happening on the celebrity front but I will dig something up. Sometimes it helps to go to another country for info.
It sure is easier and simpler to talk to you through the comments function on the blog than by email.
It was very smart of you to set up this blog just so you and I could talk.I think folks have caught on to that fact by now and they pretty much leave us alone. But I know for a fact some acquaintances of mine tune in just to read the conversation between us. I guess it's like a serial. They probably know all the names of the characters in our families.
If I am any help to you at all, it gives me great pleasure. It seems strange that sometimes we depend on advice from thousands of miles away instead of people who are right there. I guess people who are very close to, or involved in a situation are too close to see it clearly sometimes.
ReplyDeleteThe same here, I was told we have pretty pictures and they feel like they know us and our families and we are so open about our feeling on what makes us happy/sad..sometime I go to the meeting and go in the office to speak and they tell me they enjoyed us and we are two horny women.
ReplyDeletePIC I knew I wanted to keep up with you, it seem like I knew you when we first met on DCR.
ReplyDeleteI can tell you a lot of times...but I will name two, the house on the lake and when he went to California this last time to help aunt Mae and Dad says he will fix it.
ReplyDeleteSweetie , I was packing my things to leave and I wasn't going to Sis, I told Nan I was taking Sha with me.
Yes, we have some kind of strange affinity. I feel like I have known you for centuries.
ReplyDeleteYou remember Robert Blake ?? I forget what he played in but he went to jail for killing his wife but didn't stay , they found the gun in a dumpster.
ReplyDeleteI know Sis said he played in cowboys with Red Ryder as little Beaver.
How do you like your tea? Lemon and
ReplyDelete'Equal'? Boy, this is a good cup of tea.
Just wait til I get my new name,I'm going to get naughty again.[giggles]
ReplyDeleteYes that's the way I like it...hot or cold , don't drink cokes/sodas.
ReplyDeleteI just e-mails you when I am extra naughty and don't want the people in the firm/casino. HA!
ReplyDeleteI have been screwing up all evening...I put this post up on FTBB and I had one to put on SH's and it ended up here, I took it off and now I have to put it on SH's.
ReplyDeleteI do the same. Anything I can't say publicly. Usually something about family or friends which is no one's business but their own, and mine, of course.
ReplyDeleteAlso, I don't correct all my typos doing it this way. I am more careful when I email about dotting my i's and correct punctuation.And more formal.
It's okay to have an off day, where you screw up or drop everything on the floor. We all get them. Of course it could be PMS.
ReplyDeleteTypo's... I write in them and I talk in them...as you know I write just like I talk.[giggles]
ReplyDeleteThat's why I love the people I love, they care for me with all my faults.
No PMS yet...see how clam I've been lately ?
ReplyDeleteRobert Blake had a TV show called Baretta. He was very good in it. It was a cop show. He had a white parakeet that did tricks. It was a really good show in the seventies. I used to like him.I don't know about his early stuff,except that he had an abusive father and I think, no mother.Which might explain why he went off his trolly later and killed his wife.
ReplyDeleteI don't need PMS to be a nasty bitch...hell has no fury like a mad woman.
ReplyDeleteYeah, you are very calm . Are you taking Prozac.Or something stronger?
ReplyDeleteHell Hath no Fury like a mad PIC.
ReplyDeleteTrolly..I like that word, I will use it in my next meeting when I talk about the idiots about climate change.
ReplyDeleteTaking nothing, Which PIC is you referring to. Hahaha
ReplyDeleteThat guy who lives without money. He does not contribute anything to society. I believe he gets his clothes from church charities and other necessities also. He probably uses the British health care system, goes to soup kitchens in winter. So he is something of a drain on society.What is there to recommend about that??
ReplyDeleteHave you found a way to start your talk???
ReplyDeleteHow's Nana???
I left a note on the post.
ReplyDeleteI will say he's a sorry S.O.B. he has a degree and he's a worthless piece of shit.
Boyle is not doing to bad he's a good healthy size,he's a lazy bum.
ReplyDeleteWell sweetie it's about that time the time flys when you are havin fun and I guess I will make hash-browns for breakfast of course they will have someting else.
ReplyDeleteIf people are not feeling the climate change this summer then they are idiots.I think that volcano which has not erupted in four hundred years is also an indication of a disturbed planet like all the other climatic disasters that have been happening.
ReplyDeleteThey are scared now since the earth shifted slightly on it's axis that the earth may turn completely over. It happened a few million years ago. If that happens there will be disasters so violent we couldn't even imagine them in our nightmares. They will be so violent that all life on earth will be obliterated.
They think that slight shift was a warning.
One way or another, we are all headed to planetary hell. It's been great knowing you. I have booked a seat on the spaceship.We're leaving in the morning so take care and take cover.I'll send you a post card when I get to Saturn. God Bless you...luv and hugs PIC
ReplyDeleteI think it was a warning, it was the earthquake in Chili..HUH ?
ReplyDeleteThe heat in parts of the country where it's always nice and the heat up there with you. We have to work fast.
Yeah, the earthquake did it and the subsequent earthquakes all over.And you know the earthquakes are not over....NIGHT TOOTS
ReplyDeleteI think our space ship is taking off the same time as your, I just hope we don't get any terrorist that hi-jack us to mars..
ReplyDeleteGoodnight sweetie and pleasent dreams, see you tomorrow same time/place.
GOODNITE...HUGS & KISSES...PIC
Kiss the Rock.