On Mon, 21 Feb 2005 17:44:50 -0500 bivalve
<bivalve@mail.davidson.alumlink.com> writes:
> All "useless" parts and DNA can potentially function as raw material
> for future evolution. There may also be links between "useless"
> features and important ones. The gill slits that occur embyonically
> in terrestrial vertebrates are not useful in and of themselves, but
> probably are integrated into the general developmental system, with
> which it is advisable not to meddle too much. Of course, the gill
> slits also were useful in the ancestral form at some point.
>
> These sorts of usefulness do not appeal to antievolutionists, but
> they make valid points against claims of support for atheism.
>
> Dr. David Campbell
I'm not an embryologist for sure, but I understand that there are no gill
SLITS, but that they are gill ARCHES without perforation. I recall
reading someplace that they are present before the placenta is fully
established and function in the nutrition of the early embryo. I also
recall the claim that the amniotic fluid during the time that the arches
exist is high in nutrients, which are absent later. I hope someone on the
list who is knowledgeable will explain the reality.
Dave
Received on Tue Feb 22 22:18:42 2005
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