by shadow 87 Replies latest watchtower bible
@cofty:
I correct my statement. It is up to hundreds of male snakes trying to compete to reproduce with the female.
However, my question is still unanswered. How is the force of 'natural selection', being that the most dominant/fittest/etc. male gets to reproduce with the desired female, at work in this case?
There are too many variables at work to ensure the fittest male gets to reproduce with the female snake.
in thinking about this subject more I ask what would the consequences be to our self conceptions if we were to consider that humans evolved via slightly deleterious variants and and only slightly advantageous variants on our chromosomes in our divergence from primates?
Jacobm, that's not natural selection.
jacobm: However, my question is still unanswered. How is the force of 'natural selection', being that the most dominant/fittest/etc. male gets to reproduce with the desired female, at work in this case?
There are too many variables at work to ensure the fittest male gets to reproduce with the female snake.
jacobm, the words in bold highlight where your problem in understanding lies.
Natural selection is not a force. It is just a term used to refer to the observed trend whereby animals having traits that happen to be advantageous in their environment tend to thrive more in that environment. It is not a force.
There is no force ensuring that only the fittest animals get to reproduce. It is just a fact that the fittest animals will, statistically speaking, tend to thrive more than less fit ones. I'm sure there are many individual instances in nature where fit animals die without reproducing and "weaker" animals reproduce. There are other factors involved in addition to natural selection. You also have sexual selection and genetic drift.
@island man:
Thanks. So, natural selection is actually not working for the snakes?
So, natural selection is actually not working for the snakes?
No, of course it works. That's like saying because the moon hasn't crashed into the earth, gravity isn't working.
Your understanding of what natural selection does is wrong is what you are being told. And what it actually is.
Jacob m - when I wrote that the snake that reproduces is by definition the "fittest" did you understand what that means?
Fit dies NOT equal Olympian.
Dude you have the same number of hair follicles per square inch as chimps.
Read a book.
this is where natural selection starts to become a little strained and starts to resemble a deus di machina. there are other processes at work too you know - those snakes trying to copulate look suspiciously like genetic draft
edit: apologies that should read deus eks machina but my point re genetic piggy backing stands
Where's the Fur? - you never saw Pete Sampras play tennis, then?
