>
>Glenn,
>
>Have you considered the possibility that G-d developed them (mouths of
>insects) in advance of their need. The same argument is obviously true
>about the human brain.
Let me understand your suggestion which appears identical to Stephen Jones'.
Stephen Jones wrote:
>Rather than insect having generalised mouths which natural selection
>gradually adapted to specialise with various flowers, it looks like the
>mouthparts were prepared in advance for the flowers!
This argument seems to imply that God created insects with mouths designed
for angiosperms. But the problem with this is the simple fact that on
August 23, 415,523,125 B.C. when insects were created, they had an IMMEDIATE
need to eat something on that day. They could hardly wait another 100 to
200 million years for their first meal. Thus, are we to believe that the
insects were on a 100 million year long diet? I doubth that anyone would go
for that option. I would prefer to believe that their mouths were quite
capable of eating other food.
Secondly, Stephen Jones, description of the article really misrepresents
what the article is saying. Labandeira and Sepkoski (Science July 16, 1993
pp 310-315), are not at all saying that insects needed angiosperms to eat.
They are arguing against the pervasive view that the angiosperms increased
the diversity of the insect world. They clearly show that the advent of the
angiosperms did nothing to increase insect diversity. They do this in two
ways. They show that the rate of new insect families in the fossil record
actually slows down when angiosperms appear 140 million years ago. Their
second attack on the view that angiosperms increased insect diversity is
based upon the MORPHOLOGICAL argument that insect mouths can be classified
into 34 different types. All 34 types are found prior to the advent of the
angiosperms. Thus angiosperms didn't have any effect on the increase in
feeding morphological diversity among the insects. Labandeira and Sepkoski
write:
"After the expansion of angiosperms, only 1 (low estimate) to 7 (high
estimate) of the 34 mouthpart classes are know to have originated. However,
these have poor fossil records, and only one (siphonomandibulate) is
associated with flowering plants. Thus, by using mouthpart classes as
proxies for ecological disparity, we conclude that virtually all major
insect feeding types were in place considerably before angiosperms became
serious contenders in terrestrial ecosystems. Evidence from the fossil
record of vascular plant insect interactions also supports this inference."
p. 314
I would also refer you to a post of mine "Angiosperms and Oil" on 5/21/97.
Angiosperms did not become a significant part of the world's flora until the
very end of the Cretaceous, the Maastrichtian, about 72 million years ago.
This event has often been used to suggest that the dinosaurs died from being
unable to handle the poisons produced by the angiosperms which were taking
over the world.
Now, are you saying that God created the insects with mouths unable to feed
upon plants other than angiosperms, requiring them to diet for more than 200
million years?
glenn
Foundation, Fall and Flood
http://www.isource.net/~grmorton/dmd.htm