Implications of evolution

Abstract

conversation to ask the student if he knows the evidence for Evolution. This usually evokes a faintly superior smile at the simplicity of the question, since it is an old war-horse set in countless examinations. " Well, sir, there is the evidence from palaeontology, comparative anatomy, embryology, systematics and geographical distributions," the student will say in a nurseryrhyme jargon, sometimes even ticking off the w r ords on his fingers. He would then sit and look fairly complacent and wait for a more 2-IOE ' CHAPTER 2 BASIC ASSUMPTIONS Before one can decide that the theory of Evolution is the best explanation of the present-day range of forms of living material one should examine all the implications that such a theory may hold. Too often the theory is applied to, say, the development of the horse and then because it is held to be applicable there it is extended to the rest of the animal kingdom with little or no further evidence. There are, however, seven basic assumptions that are often not mentioned during discussions of Evolution. Many evolutionists ignore the first six assumptions and only consider the seventh. These are as follows. (1) The first assumption is that non-living things gave rise to living material, i.e. spontaneous generation occurred. (2) The second assumption is that spontaneous generation occurred only once. The other assumptions all follow from the second one. (3) The third assumption is that viruses, bacteria, plants and animals are all interrelated. (4) The fourth assumption is that the Protozoa gave rise to the Metazoa. (5) The fifth assumption is that the various invertebrate phyla are interrelated. (6) The sixth assumption is that the invertebrates gave rise to the vertebrates. (7) The seventh assumption is that within the vertebrates the fish gave rise to the amphibia, the amphibia to the reptiles, and the reptiles to the birds and mammals. Sometimes this is expressed in other words, i.e. that the modern amphibia and reptiles had a common ancestral stock, and so on.

The Effect of Potassium on Frog Stomach Muscle

“…The concentration of ouabain that we used to obtain a significant action was much higher than the concentration (2 and 10 ng/ml) required to inhibit the sodium pump in rat uterus (Tiirker, Page & Khairallah, 1967). However, in snail brain 10 pg/ml ouabain was needed to inhibit the pump mechanism and thus reduce the membrane potential (Kerkut, Lambert & Walker, 1973). Similar results also occurred when the potassium concentration was reduced from 4 mM to 0 mM.…”

Cuvier meets Watson and Crick: the utility of molecules as classical homologies

“…Numerous phylogenetic inferences have been drawn from the known occurrences of such molecules as chitin Ueuniaux, 1963), creatine phosphate (Roche, Thoai & Robin, 1957;Rudull & Kechington, 1973) and respiratory pigments (Terwilliger, 1980). Kerkut ( 1960) noted that such biochemical phylogenies based upon presence/absence data in a few taxa are fraught with error, while Wilmer (1990: 87), in a discussion of the disreputable status of comparative biochemistry, comments: "Scoring the presence of a molecule in a few samples of a few species from a phylum is never going to be good enough as grounds for comparisons between higher taxa, even without the problems of purification and uncertainties as to whether the molecules are endogenously synthesized or derived from the food or environment. Some of the classic success stories of early comparative biochemistry appear to be untenable .…”

On the Origins of the Major Groups of Animals

“…Prominent doubters of orderly succession in the animal world have been Pantin (1951Pantin ( , 1960, Boyden (1953Boyden ( , 1954, Grimstone (1959) and Kerkut (1960). For many years Prof. Pantin has pointed out the convergent use among animals of similar constructional materials and the tenuousness of relationships postulated to unite various invertebrate phyla, at the molecular level.…”