New Species Emerge...
Well, the examples that we saw about chimpanzee and human interbreeding, and about neanderthal and human interbreeding gives me a kind of idea about how new species emerge... at some point similar creatures that may have begun from a common ancestor no longer have as much in common and are no longer able to produce offspring together. I think it is a matter of adaptation and time. But as far as the actual mechanism for adaptation/change within a creature's offspring, I don't understand that process. In physiology we studied DNA/RNA replication, and it is a very complex process with many points at which things can go "wrong" or create a different outcome than the planned one... But as far as how optimal adaptations occur, it seems pretty miraculous. When I think about it, I start thinking about "God", or the original source of energy and life... the first push toward life, and how myriad forms of life emerged from single celled organisms, reminiscent of the fractals that we studied last week... order emerging from the chaos and vice versa. As a feeling this conceptual space is so full and awesome. Putting it into words reduces this incredible process, making it flatter. Short answer, I don't know how new species emerge.
I vote for the egg, definitely. It makes sense that the offspring should be the first chicken... Too bad we don't know what came before the egg, eh?
Yeah, I don't get how species emerge either...
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