Re: For Kim G. S. Øyhus

Glenn wrote:

[snip]

>
> Sean, this may be of interest to you. Perhaps you have not seen it in
> the news.
>
> http://ucsdnews.ucsd.edu/newsrel/science/mcirreversible.asp
>
> "UCSD Biologists Find New Evidence for One-Way Evolution"
>
> [...]
> "This is the strongest evidence yet to support irreversibility," said
> Joshua Kohn, an associate professor of biology at UCSD who headed the
> study. "If we had not used the genetic data coding for this
> reproductive mechanism and only inferred the pattern of evolution
> based on the traits of living species, we would have come to the
> opposite conclusion and with high statistical support - that the trait
> evolved more than once."
>
> [...]
>
> "Irreversible loss of complex traits, which result from the combined
> interaction of several genes, is an old and at times controversial
> scientific question. While the late evolutionary biologist Stephen Jay
> Gould popularized the hypothesis of irreversibility, known as Dollo's
> Law, studies that use current methods to reconstruct the evolution of
> complex traits often fail to support it. This is because it is often
> difficult to reconstruct characteristics of extinct ancestors with any
> certainty."
>
> "The study contradicts earlier studies of complex trait evolution,
> which have tended to favor multiple reappearances of complex traits
> after these organs were lost in ancestral species. The authors suggest
> that traditional methods for reconstructing the history of trait
> evolution may be inaccurate."

Interesting study. Why do you think it's relevant to what Sean is
talking about?

.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: For Kim G. S. Øyhus
    ... studies that use current methods to reconstruct the evolution ... >> complex traits often fail to support it. ... Why do you think it's relevant to what Sean is ...
    (talk.origins)
  • =?iso-8859-1?q?Re:_For_Kim_G._S._=D8yhus?=
    ... >> reproductive mechanism and only inferred the pattern of evolution ... >> complex traits often fail to support it. ... > loss of function. ... > of bacteria have almost all the genes for a flagellar motility system ...
    (talk.origins)
  • =?iso-8859-1?q?Re:_For_Kim_G._S._=D8yhus?=
    ... > reproductive mechanism and only inferred the pattern of evolution ... > complex traits often fail to support it. ... loss of function. ... of bacteria have almost all the genes for a flagellar motility system ...
    (talk.origins)
  • News: Study questions cost of complexity in evolution
    ... Study questions 'cost of complexity' in evolution ... Higher organisms do not have a "cost of complexity" - or slowdown in the ... complex traits and the randomness of mutations in genes. ...
    (sci.bio.evolution)
  • Re: For Kim G. S. =?ISO-8859-1?Q?=D8yhus?=
    ... >>Glenn wrote: ... studies that use current methods to reconstruct the evolution ... Why do you think it's relevant to what Sean is ...
    (talk.origins)