35
votes
Accepted
Did predators evolve eyes first?
Short answer
Complex eyes may have evolved first in predator species, specifically in box jellyfish. Trilobites are another group of animals where complex eyes may have evolved first. The trilobites ...
- 52.3k
20
votes
Did predators evolve eyes first?
AliceD's answer is great but just to address your points 1 and 2.
Eyes are expensive. From a study on fish loosing their vision in caves.
The cost of vision was calculated to be 15% of resting ...
- 301
16
votes
Do lobsters form social hierarchies and is the status in hierarchy reflected by serotonin levels?
The paper Peterson cites about serotonin and lobsters explicitly contradicts him in two major ways. First, although serotonin plays a role in aggression across many species, its role is not the same ...
- 822
13
votes
Did predators evolve eyes first?
Eyes evolved multiple independent times in convergent evolution.
Almost all the vertebrates have eyes. Those few that doesn't lost their eyes through evolution and live in deep ocean of in caves where ...
13
votes
Why does 360 degree rotation not seemed to ever have evolved?
Actually there are propeller like features called flagellum (3) evolved on many organisms like plants, animal sperms (4), bacteria (1) and flagellates (2). There are known only one macroscopic form of ...
- 131
7
votes
Accepted
Has there been evidence that there has been coevolution in E. Coli strains with the T4 bacteriophage?
High-level answer: Yes. Almost by definition there might have to be coevolution between a phage and a host, in the same way that humans coevolve with our viruses (in the form of e.g. immune repertoire)...
- 9,112
6
votes
Are giraffes living on Calauit island an example of Island dwarfism?
Update
Updates to question and comments clarify:
3m high giraffes (small)
locals say giraffes are smaller because they are "island born".
The first data point indicates that the giraffes ...
- 9,112
5
votes
Why does 360 degree rotation not seemed to ever have evolved?
This very question has been asked a number of times before. Maybe an answer to why this is not superior to legs (or any other appendage) is in order.
Your head, arms and legs don't move through magic. ...
- 24.7k
5
votes
Accepted
Flora and fauna of early homo sapiens environment?
It's a bit outdated, but Quézel (1978) suggests the flora of the Mediterranean region of Africa is not much different than today:
It is concluded that the Mediterranean flora is relatively old and ...
- 29.7k
5
votes
Accepted
What reproductive advantage do superhydrophobic spores bring?
This paper seems to agree with you; It says that the spores of the clubmoss plant are likely hydrophobic to spread more easily.
This is also a part of the secret of the well-known Lycopodium powders: ...
- 66
5
votes
Accepted
Is it possible that East Asians are a hybrid between modern and achaic humans?
Firstly, as one of the comments said, there is nothing particularly unique about the set of 'features' that East Asians have, other than having fairly high levels of Denisovan ancestry. Any region in ...
- 2,351
4
votes
How well evolution is supported by experts? Are there acceptable scientific objection to evolution?
It's a fact.
Natural selection, adaptation and genetic changes have been observed and documented several times.
But in the end, it's not about who's right, but, who has the better explanation to ...
- 1,769
4
votes
Accepted
How do we know that the DNA we share with other species (especially primates) isn't fully the result of transposable elements?
Never say never in biology. But it is not plausible that TEs explain the similarity in great apes (including humans).
Much (most?) of the argument for similarity is and has always been due to ...
- 9,112
4
votes
Accepted
Intelligence without natural selection?
The answer is yes, but really no.
It’s probably true that things were kind of laid back at first for life. But selection was still going on. A strong wave might break the membrane, a strong wind or ...
- 28.1k
3
votes
Has Darwin's abominable mystery been solved or not?
Short answer:
No, it has not been solved.
Long answer:
To briefly summarize:
2/4 of your citations (1,3) definitely state that the mystery is unsolved.
1/4 definitely states that the mystery is ...
- 9,112
2
votes
How are ray finned and lobe finned fish are sister clades?
The misunderstanding here is the difference between phylogenetic classification and character evolution. Essentially, just because an organism has one certain trait it doesn't automatically belong to ...
- 2,298
2
votes
Why are mallards ornately green despite lack of sexual selection?
The simple answer, as suggested in the comments, is that mallards are generally monogamous, with extra-pair copulations occurring but not canceling out the pairing, and with the note that some ...
- 9,112
2
votes
Flora and fauna of early homo sapiens environment?
Early human migrations may have gone through Yemen. The Red Sea rift has become salt flats multiple times because of the ice age, if you find studies of the salt strata please write a new answer.
The ...
- 10.3k
2
votes
Are mutation rates normally distributed? If not, what are they?
Mutations in this context are being treated as discrete count data (there either happen or they don't). So the number of mutations per person in a given generation should form a discrete probability ...
- 4,671
2
votes
Is it possible that East Asians are a hybrid between modern and achaic humans?
There is evidence that Europeans and Africans have admixture from other hominin groups, so it is not just Asian populations that have such admixture. We are all such hybrids, if anyone is.
The ...
- 28.1k
2
votes
What is the evolutionary origin of euphoria and dysphoria?
Perhaps it's best to equate euphoria with dopamine, because if it can be found to control sex, food choice and foraging of invertebrates, that a major piece of the puzzle:
Dopamine is believed to have ...
- 10.3k
2
votes
Accepted
is there an assumption of homology?
I can´t remember to have heard of an "assumption of homology"; i studied (evolutionary) biology in Germany for several years. If I understand correctly, you are wondering how to tell ...
- 189
1
vote
Inheritance of child behavior based on daily life experiences of the parent
Children inherit DNA from their parents, which in turn was inherited by their parents from their grandparents, and so on. Only modifications to the DNA in the germ-line cells (those producing eggs and ...
- 44k
1
vote
At what point does the capability of sexual reproduction diverge in evolution?
Zooming out a bit, biologists are usually interested in what practically stops gene flow, not whether gene flow is technically possible or not. A good example of this is chipmunks on the north and ...
1
vote
Can somebody explain why mouse and cow are the least related based on this sequenece alignment?
Answer C (Mouse and Cow) is the correct answer to the question, because among the four answer choices, mouse and cow share the earliest common ancestor*.
OP developed this tree** by following the ...
- 2,298
1
vote
Why do Bactrian camels have two humps and dromedaries one?
First of all, it seems that the Bactrian is not smaller than the dromedary, and that dromedary and the Bactrian camel evolved from a common ancestor with two humps. So it seems it's the dromedary that ...
- 139
1
vote
Intelligence without natural selection?
No
Large multicellular animals only have an advantage in resource conservation monopolization.
So with infinite resources and infinite space you won't have anything that could even have a brain.
In ...
- 14.3k
1
vote
How are ray-finned and lobe-finned fish related in terms of their evolutionary history?
[should possibly be a comment but can't embed images there]
The rather clear consensus is that tetrapods are a subordinate group within lobe-finned fish, which is a sister group to ray-finned fish. ...
- 9,112
1
vote
Why don't the female lions in a pride help their male lion to protect their children from other males?
I've seen a video or two where the lioness will fight a male to protect the cubs.
And another thing, when a nomadic male or males take over a pride by force, it isn't considered a new pride being ...
1
vote
Why don't the female lions in a pride help their male lion to protect their children from other males?
I’m watching one right now on Disney plus and I was literally wondering the same thing as you until it showed that two out of a pack of 5 male lions initiated a fight and to protect her daughter she ...
- 11
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