Still Waters Posted March 18, 2013 #1 Share Posted March 18, 2013 Collisions with road vehicles are driving a population of swallows to evolve into faster, more agile fliers with shortened wings. Natural selection has favoured birds that are better able to get out of the way of oncoming cars and trucks, scientists in the US discovered. Survivors tend to have shorter wings that make it easier to take off quickly and pivot out of the path of danger. http://www.dailymail...t-30-YEARS.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Space Commander Travis Posted March 18, 2013 #2 Share Posted March 18, 2013 I always thought that Natural Selection takes a very long time, thousands of years, to take any discernible effect. Consequently, therefore, this makes me suspicious. Have we been lied to all these years? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xYlvax Posted March 18, 2013 #3 Share Posted March 18, 2013 I always thought that Natural Selection takes a very long time, thousands of years, to take any discernible effect. Consequently, therefore, this makes me suspicious. Have we been lied to all these years? Of course. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Abramelin Posted March 19, 2013 #4 Share Posted March 19, 2013 I always thought that Natural Selection takes a very long time, thousands of years, to take any discernible effect. Consequently, therefore, this makes me suspicious. Have we been lied to all these years? It's about "four millimetres over the past 30 years" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Space Commander Travis Posted March 19, 2013 #5 Share Posted March 19, 2013 It's about "four millimetres over the past 30 years" Well, exactly. if it takes just that amount of time for a detectable difference to appear, why are we told that it took tens of thousands of years for Apes to stand upright, or for lizards to evolve legs, or vice versa? Something looks fishy to me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Abramelin Posted March 19, 2013 #6 Share Posted March 19, 2013 Well, exactly. if it takes just that amount of time for a detectable difference to appear, why are we told that it took tens of thousands of years for Apes to stand upright, or for lizards to evolve legs, or vice versa? Something looks fishy to me. Because those changes you mentioned are huge in comparison. Personally I think it's nothing special, those 4 millimeters. It's about total wingspan, so 2 mm less on both sides. We're talking feathers here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emma_Acid Posted March 19, 2013 #7 Share Posted March 19, 2013 I always thought that Natural Selection takes a very long time, thousands of years, to take any discernible effect. Consequently, therefore, this makes me suspicious. Have we been lied to all these years? No. Small changes like this can happen generationally. Darwin observed this. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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