RE: Species & Giraffe necks

["Jerry D. Harris" <102354.2222@compuserve.com>]

Message text written by INTERNET:gderkits@lucent.com
>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.<

        IIRC, it was a commercial collector/dealer in cichlid fish who
pointed out to some evolutionary scientist studying their (sub)species
diversity (based heavily on tooth morphology) that their teeth develop
differently depending on what they were fed...

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                     Jerry D. Harris
                 Fossil Preparation Lab
          New Mexico Museum of Natural History
                   1801 Mountain Rd NW
               Albuquerque  NM  87104-1375
                 Phone:  (505) 899-2809
                  Fax: ; (505) 841-2866
               102354.2222@compuserve.com