Re: The origin of flight: from the water up

["David Marjanovic" <david.marjanovic@gmx.at>]

> >Their bones aren't hollow anymore. Like those of e. g. penguins and other
> >strongly adapted birds.
> >
> Did those other birds had that too, those convergently evolved the same
> characteristics, alks IIRC?

Don't know how pneumatized auks are.

> In the paper from yesterday there was an article
> about pinguins. It basicly stated that evolution is progressing rapidly
even
> more so than it is expected. This is based on evidence from the bones of
> long dead pinguins.

Interesting.

> The results from this study said that the pinguin DNA is
> perhaps changing at a rate of 5 times as fast as normal.

What is normal? (Thanks for a good argument against molecular clocks. :-) )

> This counters the previously hold belief by scientist
> that evolution occurs more slowly in the Arctic regions.

Aha... anyone around here who believed that? I've never read this...

> Results from this study may affect overall DNA research
> regarding the rate that mitochondriate DNA changed in others groups of
> animals, making the it possible that the may have occured more recently as
> what is currently believed.

Do you have any numbers? Penguins are known from the Eocene when they had
already reached quite some diversity.

> >"Rather an end with horror than a horror without end"... pretty recent
> >German proverb.
> >
> The person who said that must have seen JPIII...

It's a good comment to JPIII. The proverb is a lot older, though. :-)