half-evolved feather

Cliff Lundberg (cliff@noevalley.com)
Sat, 09 May 1998 13:57:53 -0700

> >structure which appears to be a half-evolved feather.

I just wonder how one can know a structure is transitional
rather than being merely intermediate in form for other
reasons. And if a structure is transitional, how do we know
the direction of the transition? Certainly there's plenty of
evolution through loss or degeneration of a sort, so why
assume a structure is on the path of progress?

--
Cliff Lundberg ~ San Francisco ~ cliff@noevalley.com