From: bivalve (bivalve@mail.davidson.alumlink.com)
Date: Tue Aug 12 2003 - 11:29:13 EDT
>Can you just recite one or more _scientific_ alternatives to natural selection.<
Other factors that are believed to influence evolution, besides natural selection, include genetic drift (the effects of random genetic envents), catastrophic selection (e.g., asteroid impact), sexual selection, physical constraints, historical factors (e.g., who got there first), genetic linkages (e.g., strong jaws and weak backs in bulldogs and pandas), and exaptation (the use of something that initially evolved for another purpose). The relative role of each of these, along with natural selection, is debated; it certainly varies a good deal between situations.
The metaphysical misrepresentation of Darwin is not due entirely to Christian circles. Ruse puts much of the blame on Huxley, despite being philosophically sympathetic to Huxley's agenda.
Dr. David Campbell
Old Seashells
University of Alabama
Biodiversity & Systematics
Dept. Biological Sciences
Box 870345
Tuscaloosa, AL 35487-0345 USA
bivalve@mail.davidson.alumlink.com
That is Uncle Joe, taken in the masonic regalia of a Grand Exalted Periwinkle of the Mystic Order of Whelks-P.G. Wodehouse, Romance at Droitgate Spa
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