> >CL: I would think that adding one bit of information is not a significant
> >increase, given the size of genomes.
> Now you get picky. The above example is valid for autopolyploidy. In
> allopolyploidy the information increase is very significant.
Well, when an argument involves mathematical logic, pickiness may
crop up. I suspect allopolyploidy may have been very important in
the macroevolutionary events prior to the Cambrian explosion. This
is a mechanism through which exotic combinations of features might
occur in a genome. Presumably a lineage formed through polyploidy
could, once established, revert to diploidy without losing much.
-- Cliff Lundberg ~ San Francisco ~ cliff@noevalley.com