I find it interesting that in pop-science culture, speciation takes "millions of years" ... but the average "lifespan" of medium to large bodied animals is probably less than two MILLION years.
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Bill Nye on Evolution
Category: Giraffe
Posted on: November 30, 2007 11:38 AM, by Greg Laden
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Comments
I'm not sure what point you're making, nut Bill Nye doesn't mention speciation in this, he's talking about the evolution of traits - which is different, surely?
Posted by: John Conway | November 30, 2007 1:13 PM
I don't understand the point of your comment.
Are you saying that speciation (of medium to large bodied) animals takes (significantly) less than "millions of years"?
Your statement that the average lifespan is 2 years seems wrong. A quick Google of zebra, impala, lion, bear, gives average life spans (in the wild) of 10 to 20 years. Did you mean - a new generation every 2 years? Even that is too fast for those animals. Females become sexually mature at 2 to 4 years, and gestation periods are 4 to 12 months. So, you get a new generation in about 3 to 5 years.
Posted by: Karl | November 30, 2007 1:27 PM
I prefer to subscribe to punctuated equilibrium. Some shift occurs in the environmental stresses a group of organisms face. Then the group of organisms shift in phenotype accordingly. In reality, most genetic traits tend to revert back to norms rather than tall people producing taller kids... or even kids who are half way inbetween their own heights... the heights tend to float right around average (in the average population this is).
It's also possible that the long necks of giraffes are not because it allows them to eat high up leaves... but consequentially has also given this ability. Much like the way that feathers didn't arise because they allowed those with them to fly.
Posted by: Nathaniel | November 30, 2007 2:18 PM
Ooops. ... that's two MILLION years. Fixed.
Posted by: Greg Laden | November 30, 2007 2:28 PM