Timeline for How does evolution produce complex organs
Current License: CC BY-SA 3.0
16 events
| when toggle format | what | by | license | comment | |
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| Aug 17, 2012 at 16:47 | comment | added | Armatus | -1 While certainly relevant, I don't think this answer is actually answering the question. Will undo if improved of course :) | |
| Jul 23, 2012 at 14:18 | comment | added | Rik Smith-Unna | @rwst it's not a personal attack, it's just that the interesting point you've made (that complex phenotypes can appear rapidly in evolution due to master switches) does not demonstrate that organs arise suddenly, but that they can change form quite suddenly. It doesn't answer the question. It remains that gradual accumulation of small changes still accounts for evolution of the molecular networks which might be rearranged by a master switch mutation. For what it's worth, I do think your answer was interesting :). Please don't stop contributing just because of this. | |
| Jul 22, 2012 at 12:00 | comment | added | Stilgar | Yeah I am interested in how organs pop into existence. I am fully aware that they have been changed and improved slowly over time but unless they somewhat worked from the start evolution would not select for this trait | |
| Jul 22, 2012 at 11:02 | comment | added | nico | @rwst: I am very sorry that you are taking this so personally. The only thing I am interesting into is to have a good answer, I don't care who writes the answer. The OP states: I cannot imagine how an organism will mutate to have lets [sic] say lungs at once so it is clear that he is asking for how lungs popped into existence, not how they were modified from a previous existing respiratory apparatus. | |
| Jul 22, 2012 at 10:07 | comment | added | R Stephan | Part of organ complexity is shape, and that can well be changed with a single mutation or even small change in environment. The question isn't about lungs popping into existence. It's about lungs with all their complexity, and part of that can change drastically. As you're not inclined to accept anything from me, I will close this now | |
| Jul 22, 2012 at 9:10 | comment | added | nico | @rwst: -1, if your intention was not to state that then you have not really answered the question... You may want to quote relevant extracts from the books you refer to, in order to improve your answer. | |
| Jul 21, 2012 at 22:25 | comment | added | Rik Smith-Unna | And complex phenotypes are not equivalent to organs - do you have an example of an organ which evolved as a result of a master switch? | |
| Jul 21, 2012 at 22:24 | comment | added | Rik Smith-Unna | Just because the inverse of something is true, does not make that thing true. Organs disappearing with a single mutation is not evidence that they could ever have evolved with one. | |
| Jul 21, 2012 at 17:52 | comment | added | R Stephan | This is a strawman argument because I never stated that, either. | |
| Jul 21, 2012 at 15:31 | comment | added | nico | This is a bit too simplistic. For sure we did not get from unicellular organisms to organisms with a stomach, hearth and lunghs just with a couple of mutations. Several small adaptive steps exist in the middle. | |
| Jul 21, 2012 at 14:39 | vote | accept | Stilgar | ||
| Jul 21, 2012 at 14:36 | comment | added | R Stephan | PS. There are indeed mutations that can 'create' a functional organ at once, because there are mutations that can make organs disappear. Just do the reverse change. I know the reverse would be near impossible in evolution. | |
| Jul 21, 2012 at 14:32 | history | edited | R Stephan | CC BY-SA 3.0 |
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| Jul 21, 2012 at 14:31 | comment | added | R Stephan | No. You said above there are always small steps, and I said this is not true. The shape of an organ, when it is already evolved, can change drastically because it is determined by processes that are very sensible to the environment and to some mutations. | |
| Jul 21, 2012 at 14:13 | comment | added | Stilgar | Excuse my ignorance but I have only studied high school biology 15 years ago and in another language. If I understand your answer correctly it is possible for a mutation to create a functional organ at once? | |
| Jul 21, 2012 at 13:42 | history | answered | R Stephan | CC BY-SA 3.0 |