Naming Evolution's Winners And Losers

[Nicholas]

ScienceDaily (Aug. 24, 2009) — Mammals and many species of birds and fish are among evolution's "winners," while crocodiles, alligators and a reptile cousin of snakes known as the tuatara are among the losers, according to new research by UCLA scientists and colleagues.

Find the article HERE!

I'd like to see a discussion surrounding this, opinions anyone?

[tracer]

<acting like beetlejuice when he was pretending to decide whether to marry what's-her-name>

let me see....do i have an opinion? <scratching chin> hmmm.

yes!! now that you ask - i do!

i find it horridfrying that slientists would attribute human value judgements onto speciesdiversivenessitivity. i feel that gators got it right the first freakin' time, have done fine as they are, chompin' the snarge out of anything and everything, and didn't need to morph all weird kinda ways to hack out a tiny niche amongst all the other competition in order to survive. i mean, take your average workplace and/or instutition of higherhaha learning - everbody's just slinkin' around, pretending to be something special so's they can climb that ole food chain, suckin' up to the boss or writin' some weird paper to publish. and then there's the big, bad, belchin' bubba that strolls on through the huddled masses yearnin' to be he and just ambles on into whoever's office is in charge, puts his feet up on the desk, and tells him he'll kick his hairless bohind less'n he gets a raise.

that boy there's a human gator. you morph all you want, but he ain't gonna. now you might think he ain't specie-ate'n or whatever, but why should he? he has more fun in a week than you do in a year.

naw, i think that brids and reef finners and such are all just reinventin' themselves a teensy all the time because none of 'em have been successful enough to kick all the competition's butt and be able to just be themselves for the rest of enterthalpy.

gators got it made. and their baby gators will kick your straight-a baby evolvers' butts.

that right there is what i think! <gnawing a hunk of raw red meat off some sort of dripping hunk of grossness>

[Auspex]

I subscribe to Stephen Jay Gould's concept that "success" is best viewed in terms of adaptive radiation at the family level. At the species level, it is a better indication of "plastic" genes in a changing environment.

[tracer]

...in theory

<walking out of thread>

[32fordboy]

As far as I'm concerned, crocs are on the very top of the winners list. Obviousy they were as good in the beginning as they'd ever need to be! Evolution is nature's way of saying, "well, you're not quite there yet, so let's keep trying."

Nick

[Auspex]

...Evolution is nature's way of saying, "well, you're not quite there yet, so let's keep trying."

And nature is evolution's way of saying "don't get too comfortable; change happens".

[Gatorman]

actually i think the real winner would be the cockroach

[32fordboy]

Oh yeah, and cockroaches, too...and maybe turtles

[MOROPUS]

actually i think the real winner would be the cockroach

...and corals, jellyfishes and algae!