Letter to the editor:



Original article at

Japan Times, Monday, Nov. 6, 2006

Four-finned dolphin an evolutionary throwback

http://search.japantimes.co.jp/mail/nn20061106a3.html



The dolphin with an extra pair of fins that was found a couple of days ago is what it is: a dolphin with a body deformation – a birth defect.

It was labeled by a biologist 'an evolutionary throwback', but with the same logic one could call it evolutionary progress. “Dolphins evolve the extra pair of fins to gain the ability to walk on land. Given the increasingly strong evolutionary pressure of dwindling food resources, pollution, and increased hunting by humans, dolphins are trying to escape their aqueous habitat!”

Or it is what it is: a simple birth defect.

It becomes clearer when applying the same reasoning to body anomalies in humans: a single ventricle heart is an evolutionary throwback and a proof that we evolved from amphibians? A person born blind is an evolutionary throwback and a proof that we evolved from earthworms?

Take a break. This is not science. A single, isolated event or observation should not be used as ‘proof’ of a theory. Is evolutionary biology so much in need for a ‘proof’ that they have to resort to that?