Guest SerenityNow Posted August 16, 2005 Share Posted August 16, 2005 Just curious after watching some of these shows lately. Cases of people with "horns", elephant man disease (overgrowth disease), lobster hands, etc.. I don't know but I just had to ask if that is at all a possibility. I mean afterall, why would "god" purposefully allow someone to have hands like a lobster or a man to have almost an elephant type foot? It seems more logical that evolution would have something to do with how these things happen. Then again, I'm clueless about this area of science. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
♦ ficino ♦ Posted August 16, 2005 Share Posted August 16, 2005 Aren't these just deformities that look like parts of other creatures by accident? I don't quite get this one, Thankful. The histories of Livy about early Rome every so often talk about things like a man-headed calf was born somewhere. Ancient people thought such monstrosities portended the wrath of the gods. I always thought the poor calf just had a deformed head that looked like a human head by accident. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
♦ ficino ♦ Posted August 16, 2005 Share Posted August 16, 2005 Hey, no sweat, Thankful! I think it's cool to ask why certain bodily structures have such similarity among species and even genera. I think that is more rationally explained under evolution than under the assumption that God just liked certain bodily structures and kept repeating them. A truly creative creator would have come up with much more variation. I note that you correct what you think isn't valid in something you have said. I contrast that with others on here who keep repeating the same crap in the face of evidence and logic! chill Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spamandham Posted August 17, 2005 Share Posted August 17, 2005 If I could remove this topic, I would. I don't know what the hell I was thinking............... Sorry (red-faced and embarrassed, leaves this thread) <{POST_SNAPBACK}> I think you're giving up too easily. Such deformities may in fact demonstrate the path of evolution of species. Suppose someone is born with "horns" due to a mutation. Considering the similarity between mamals, why is it unreasonable to think the same mutation may have been what gave horns to some horned beast? Why could a mutation that results in scaly skin not possibly be related to feathers? Perhaps once the genomes of all species are mapped, it will be possible to explore these mutations to find correlations. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Samurai Tailor Posted August 17, 2005 Share Posted August 17, 2005 I think you're giving up too easily. Such deformities may in fact demonstrate the path of evolution of species. Suppose someone is born with "horns" due to a mutation. Considering the similarity between mamals, why is it unreasonable to think the same mutation may have been what gave horns to some horned beast? Why could a mutation that results in scaly skin not possibly be related to feathers? <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Be careful speculating openly about this stuff. Biology distinguishes between two main types of similar structures: a] analogous structures, which are morphologically similar but genetically distinct; b] homologous structures, which are morphologically and genetically similar. Modern mammal horns, for example, are probably not fully controlled by a single gene. Thus, any new mutation that spontaneously results in a human with horns will almost assuredly be an analog rather than a homolog. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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