Posted by Cygnus [Cygnus] on November 25, 1999 at 18:58:49 {yaNwUlwC5cKL7zxXW/42L4bdfUTIaI}:
In Reply to: ******Evolution Test posted by MK on November 25, 1999 at 12:22:52:
What constitutes a freak? Scorpions look like freaks to me. So do hammer-head sharks. Some cats look awfully strange. Some critters have appendages that could be considered freakish. Many species have useless or unnecessary organs.
That most animals have symmetry in their physical makeup lends itself to practicality as determined by nature. If you had a third arm sticking out of your upper back, you'd probably find it much more of a nuisance. Even if you didn't, everyone else probably doesn't have one. That mutation wouldn't stick within your species. And that's the point of biological evolution -- population gene pools that change together with relative consistency (maintaining a certain number of limbs, for example). The lack of dogs with three legs simply means natural selection found no need for dogs with three legs. Or rather, no dog species found the need to develop three legs.
Whale embryoes do have legs. Humans have tails. Where'd they come from, except as a throwback to our ancestors, who had tails, and the whales' ancestors, that had legs? Why don't we have tails today? Could humans have used tails such as those of spider monkeys? Why didn't this Higher Power design human beings with useful tails after all?