RE: Species & Giraffe necks

["Derkits, Gustav E, JR (Gus)" <gderkits@lucent.com>]

        Betty Cunningham wrote:
        >As I understand it (from my Comparitive Anatomy professor MANY
years
        >ago) the skulls of lions bred in captivity differs STRONGLY from
their
        >wild counterparts-primarily due to unexercised muscle formation of
the
        >jaws.  They don't get the work out the wild ones do so the face is
not
        >as heavily developed while growing up, which effects bone growth.
        >No one ever told me if the same were true of tigers...

        Which illustrates another point about vertebrate anatomy and
behavior:
        the feedback loop works both ways. Exercise of some behaviors during
        development can leave marks that could be mistaken for genetic
        in a limited fossil population.
        G. Derkits