I was thinking of doing something with this paper, but dang it, Omics! Omics! beat me to it. Read it anyway…I suppose there might be some other science in the universe left for me.
Pharyngula
Evolution, development, and random biological ejaculations from a godless liberal
Huh? Al Franken has announced he’s running for Senate, and you’re posting about genes and flippers? You haven’t had your coffee yet, have you?
PZ: WRITE SOMETHING, would you? Links to what other people have done are neither big nor clever.
He is writing something, Ben. He’s writing his book. So chill.
I am not a fan of the arguments given in that link. It is not that I do not agree with the general reasoning, but rather that I think it avoid actual creationist arguments and point-of-views. Doing so is a bit of a strawman, and is not up to good standards as far as I can see…
It is true the fossil record does suggest a common origin, most likely from Acanthodians, of both the limbs of chondrichthyans and Osteichthyans (if you care to use that name), but a loss of a developmental mechanism in one group relative to another, if it had occured, should not been seen as any type of doom to evolutionary theory.
In short, shit happens..