From: Terry W. Colvin (fortean1@mindspring.com)
Date: Mon Feb 17 2003 - 19:54:00 MST
fruit flies...fruit flies...fruit flies...fruit flies...fruit flies...
All those quotes regarding doubts about evolution got me to thinking -
specifically, the quote which asserted that no species, not even Drosophila,
has even been observed changing into another species...
Wouldn't it be possible, at least theoretically, to actually _test_ this
empirically?
Given Drosophila's rapid rate of mutation, could one not isolate a
population and...I dunno...say repeatedly expose them to radiation or some
other stress...heavily alkaline water supply, something...then allow a few
generations to survive and breed among themselves. Then one attempts to
breed them with an un-mutated control population.
If the mutant Drosophila couldn't interbreed with the control, but could
interbreed with themselves, isn't that one of the determinants of species
status?
Or am I missing something profoundly obvious here?
At any rate, is such an experiment or a similar one theoretically possible?
->Zx<-
"ArchD'Ikon Zibethicus"
-- Terry W. Colvin, Sierra Vista, Arizona (USA) < fortean1@mindspring.com > Alternate: < fortean1@msn.com > Home Page: < http://www.geocities.com/Area51/Stargate/8958/index.html > Sites: * Fortean Times * Mystic's Haven * TLCB * U.S. Message Text Formatting (USMTF) Program ------------ Member: Thailand-Laos-Cambodia Brotherhood (TLCB) Mailing List TLCB Web Site: < http://www.tlc-brotherhood.org >[Vietnam veterans, Allies, CIA/NSA, and "steenkeen" contractors are welcome.]
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