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Evolution, development, and random biological ejaculations from a godless liberal
PZ Myers is a biologist and associate professor at the University of Minnesota, Morris.
…and this is a pharyngula stage embryo.
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The idea of an incarnation of God is absurd: why should the human race think itself so superior to bees, ants, and elephants as to be put in this unique relation to its maker? . . Christians are like a council of frogs in a marsh or a synod of worms on a dung-hill croaking and squeaking "for our sakes was the world created.
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Category: Evolution • Humor
Posted on: April 7, 2006 2:55 PM, by PZ Myers
The tetrapod isn't surprising…you know you're a science nerd when the first thing you wonder is what the flowering plants are doing in the Devonian. It also makes me wonder just how old Bob the Angry Flower is.
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Comments
and they are talking flowers, too! talking before humans were even a twinkle in the almighty's eye. amazing; they're yet another missing link!
Posted by: GrrlScientist | April 7, 2006 3:12 PM
Bob is eternal and immortal. Bob spewed pollen all over the beginning of the universe and created the Big Bang. Bob will preside over the heat-death of the cosmos, bowl of popcorn in hand. You get the idea. ;)
For those of you late to our show tonight, check out Bob's Quick Guide to the Apostrophe, You Idiots.
Posted by: Interrobang | April 7, 2006 3:14 PM
Interrobang, I agree with you. It will be adorable!!
Posted by: JoeB | April 7, 2006 3:31 PM
bah. broke my link. Here it is
Posted by: JoeB | April 7, 2006 3:33 PM
Bob has been my favorite webcomic for a while now, although I must sadly say his funniness has decreased noticeably since the end of Dogkiller.
/tear
Posted by: MtMan900 | April 7, 2006 3:54 PM
"For those of you late to our show tonight, check out Bob's Quick Guide to the Apostrophe, You Idiots."
When I was typsetting at a paper, I constantly had to argue with people over one thing - even people who otherwise know better insist on using an apostrophe when pluralizing such things as VCRs and TVs and CDs. You can probably even find some source saying that it's proper to do this, but I won't listen!
Posted by: craig | April 7, 2006 4:53 PM
Interrobang has forgotten that Bob is responsible for life as we know it.
http://www.angryflower.com/goinaf.gif
Posted by: Patrick | April 7, 2006 4:57 PM
Bob couldn't be immortal - flowers evolved well after the Devonian, apparently in the Jurrasic.
But even non-Bob flowers may have more emotional (and expoitative) impact on humans than generally realized, according to these evolutionary psychologists:
Evolutionary Psychology 3: 104-132
http://human-nature.com/ep/articles/ep03104132.html
An Environmental Approach to Positive Emotion: Flowers
"We suggest that cultivated flowers are rewarding because they have evolved to rapidly induce positive emotion in humans, just as other plants have evolved to induce varying behavioral responses in a wide variety of species leading to the dispersal or propagation of the plants."
Posted by: thwaite | April 7, 2006 5:04 PM
Isn't it obvious? See the hungry gleam in the fish-tetrapod's eye? There were two talking flowers in the Devonian, the damn thing ate them, and then the world had to wait around another two hundred million years or so for flowers to re-evolve, and the next time they couldn't talk. Pity, really.
Posted by: Carlie | April 7, 2006 5:16 PM
It's cute as hell nonetheless, Disney-esque!
Posted by: Pete K | April 7, 2006 6:17 PM
Doctor Who got it right many years ago - there was an episode where he went to the Devonian (or Ordovician? I don't remember) and stood on the most astoundingly barren rocky seashore you could imagine.
Posted by: Coragyps | April 7, 2006 6:40 PM
DarkSyde's Science Friday claims that all the fish in this sequence lived in rivers, and in fact lobes first evolved as a way of gripping the bottom of the river to help in swimming against the current.
Posted by: Alon Levy | April 7, 2006 6:59 PM
When I was typsetting at a paper, I constantly had to argue with people over one thing - even people who otherwise know better insist on using an apostrophe when pluralizing such things as VCRs and TVs and CDs. You can probably even find some source saying that it's proper to do this, but I won't listen!
Given that it seems to be the prefered usage in general weblandia I expect that it will be the standard form in none to many years. Acronyms *are* relatively new in general language, so some changes are to be expected.
Posted by: AoT | April 7, 2006 7:00 PM
Okay - I am a plant nerd and proud of it!
True flowers may indeed date back only to the Cretaceous, but molecular phylogenies now indicate that the angiosperms and gymnosperms are separate monophyletic groups. This is an amazing finding because conifers are recognizable in the fossil record by the Pennsylvanian. Therefore, the lineage leading to flowering plants must have already diverged by that time. In fact it had to be signicantly before this time as the conifers are not the most primitive of the gymnosperms. Of course that doesn't mean that these plants were at all like modern angiosperms, but it does indicate that the angiosperm lineage is substantilally older than a literal reading of the record indicates.
Posted by: Brian Axsmith | April 7, 2006 9:42 PM
Awwwwww! Who knew our tetrapod ancestors were so ADORABLE!
About apostrophes: it kinda depends on the style (AP, Chicago, APA, etc.) that you're using. Some go for apostrophes to pluralize acronyms and some don't. The general rule is that you don't use apostrophes except with something that, without it, would look like a different word. And, of course, I can't come up with an example...
Posted by: Bourgeois Nerd | April 7, 2006 11:07 PM
You really can't forget "Coffee With Sinistar"
http://angryflower.com/coffee.gif
...that is, if you're over 30.
Posted by: Jay Carlson | April 7, 2006 11:56 PM
Some go for apostrophes to pluralize acronyms and some don't.
I was taught that apostrophes were only for possession (e.g. Jack's notebook)and that plural doesn't need an apostrophe...
Posted by: cp | April 8, 2006 2:48 AM
I admit that this has nothing to do with walking, breathing fish but I'm going to have to sue all of you bastards for racial and ethnic discrimination against the Irish. Bureaucratic computers constantly turn a proud name like "O'Toole" into "Otoole" and "O'Neal" into Oneal." What the hell is up with that? Please note that there are more important uses for the apostrophe than plurals and grammatical convenience. I need Bob's address so my lawyer, Seamus O'Epstein, can serve him with papers. I also need the addresses of all of you cultural racists. You will be hearing from Seamus.
Posted by: Shyster | April 8, 2006 5:33 AM
Brian,
Molecules, schmolecules. :)
Posted by: Carlie | April 8, 2006 7:34 AM
Actually the cultural racists gave you that apostrophe anyways, using the apostrophe was their way of rendering the Irish Ó in English. So dump that imperialist apostrophe and proudly insist that the bureaucrat type in Alt+0211 (in Windows) and restore your proud name(s). Of course, you really should be spelling O'Toole and O'Neal as Ó Tuathail and Ó Niall ...
Posted by: Patrick Taylor | April 8, 2006 8:02 AM
Mr. Taylor, Thank you for the information. I was aware of much of your instruction. You realize that your information does not change the facts in my law suit. I will grant you that Irish, not unlike Welsh, often strings vowels and consonants together in an unpronounceable jumble. The old spelling of "O'Toole" is a perfect example. I tried to pronounce all of the letters as spelled and spent two days in the hospital. It may be a reason that both languages are struggling to survive. My concern is the insensitive bureaucrat and the current spelling of Irish names. Wait a minute, isn't "Taylor" an English name? Will you give us poor people no peace?
Posted by: Shyster | April 8, 2006 10:33 AM
Check out Bob the Angry Flower's little rant for Fri, April 14, "Towards An Intelligent Intelligent Design."
http://www.angryflower.com/
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April 26, 2006 9:17 PM