Comments on: Why am I not surprised?

By: Sybil

Sybil — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 20:03:06 +0000

“Moggy Thursday, 20 November 1330hrs

Of course. Whales and other sea mammals are descendants of primitive land mammals who took to the sea, and evolved to be sea-dwellers.”

That’s from where mermaids evolved I guess.

By: Moggy

Moggy — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 12:30:11 +0000

[Kenneth Cassar – which suggests that an ancestral species of whales lived on land.]

Of course. Whales and other sea mammals are descendants of primitive land mammals who took to the sea, and evolved to be sea-dwellers.

By: Andrea

Andrea — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 10:45:52 +0000

Kenneth,

kangaroos seem to be everywhere all of a sudden.

http://de.news.yahoo.com/1/20081119/ten-knguru-jagd-auf-der-autobahn-45cd332_1.html

It is a german article, sent it just for the proof, a kangaroo escaped a transporter yesterday on a german “autobahn”.

Enough joking now, orrite;-))

By: Pat

Pat — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 09:42:46 +0000

“A little correction. After I logged off yesterday, I went to check on the hippo-whale thing, and found I didn’t get it exactly right. Actually it is the hippo that is genetically closer to whales than to any other land-living species alive today.”

Those things are what is so fascinating about genetics. You never know what to expect. There are some studies that indicate that cows are closer related to whales than they are to horses.

Now about the claim in the article, it does sound a bit faulty to say we are closely related to marsupials. 150 million years ago is quite some time. We are closer related to bats than that.

By: Kenneth Cassar

Kenneth Cassar — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 09:14:27 +0000

@ Andrea: No problem ;) Since you mentioned you were going to bed, I assumed that you were in a hurry and so really did not understand. Now I know that yours was just a light comment…I should have known…its not rocket science after all!

By: Andrea

Andrea — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 08:48:44 +0000

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skippy_the_Bush_Kangaroo

By: Andrea

Andrea — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 08:48:08 +0000

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skippy_the_Bush_Kangaroo

and sometimes even misprints happen to me;-)

By: Andrea

Andrea — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 08:43:13 +0000

Kenneth,

I know!I was joking…never mind, I am used to it…people don’t get my jokes some times;-)

By: Kenneth Cassar

Kenneth Cassar — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 08:27:55 +0000

Correction: @ Zizzu: You are perfectly right to suggest that we should not read too much into this story…

By: Kenneth Cassar

Kenneth Cassar — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 08:26:58 +0000

@ Andrea: “..a few more of this, a few less of that” refers to genetic information in the genome.
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@ Zizzu: You are perfectly right to suggest that we should not read too into this story. Genes don’t only produce their effects in isolation. Some genes work by interaction with other genes. Therefore a single gene change might make a huge difference, both in form and/or behaviour.