This Picture Has Creationists Terrified

[kpete]

And no wonder: It's the most powerful evidence for evolution that you can imagine.
AAAS.
Side-by-side comparison of the chromosomes of humans, chimpanzees, gorillas, and orangutans (from left to right for each chromosome) From JJ Yunis, O Prakash, "The origin of man: a chromosomal pictorial legacy," Science, March 19 1982. Reprinted with permission from AAAS.

Simply put, evolution predicts that organisms that are more closely related to one another will have more of their DNA in common. We can now sequence the genomes of different species and prove that this is indeed the case. Thus, humans share more DNA with chimpanzees than with gorillas, more DNA with gorillas than with rhesus monkeys, and so on.

...........

way more:
http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2014/01/bill-nye-creationism-evolution

[uppityperson]

1. If people evolved from monkeys, how come there's still monkeys? huh? huh? huh?

good comparison of our cousins, thanks.

[NYC_SKP]

3. I know! And what happened to all the in-between steps, huh?

What about them, where'd they go?

[PDJane]

29. I am going to copy that. Thank you. It's brilliant.

[Grey]

13. I want to know......

If Dogs evolved from wolves, how come we still have wolves?

[former9thward]

25. They didn't evolve from wolves.

Both had a common ancestor. http://www.csmonitor.com/Science/2014/0117/Did-dogs-really-evolve-from-wolves-New-evidence-suggests-otherwise

[FarCenter]

43. Dogs weren't as successful competitors as humans. Homo sapiens killed off all the other Homo species

[Warpy]

2. Not only that, but much of it controls intracellular processes

and is common (with minor variations) to both humans and single cell organisms. Evolution is all there in our DNA.

Of course, most creationists think we're solid inside, like potatoes.

[MsPithy]

22. ...solid inside, like potatoes. !!!

Bwwaa haa haa!

Funniest thing I have read all week!

Thanks!

[idendoit]

4. Dream on...

...that fundamentalists will accept any kind of scientific evidence.

[Phentex]

5. That's exactly what I was thinking...

they believe some of the most ludicrous stuff and reject some of the most solid scientific evidence all the time. This will change nothing for them.

[MsPithy]

23. Creationists are told evidence for evolution that sounds logical

is satan's trickery.

Ain't that just too fucking handy?

[tblue37]

26. Or GOD's! Yep, some actually claim that God put fossils and other evidence for

evolution and for the more than 6000-year age of the earth all over the place as a *test of faith*, so to believe in such evidence is to fail that test because one's faith is too weak.

IOW, God is the Trickster after all, the Father of Lies, not Satan.

[JHB]

6. I will predicit nary a moment of terror from creationists.

Always remember: They argue like lawyers, not scholars. They're interested in building a case to an audience -- one that doesn't have a judge imposing rules of evidence on them either.

A picture of sets of squiggly lines won't mean anything to their audience. Expect no terror there, they use a different set of rules.

[Walk away]

7. Some of these folks think the Earth is flat so squiggly lines...

won't mean a thing to them.

[CJCRANE]

8. Let them debate which version of Creationism is correct first

out of the various denominations of Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Hinduism etc.

[Nitram]

9. Nothing will ever change a creationists's beliefs.

And this one is easy. "God made man and the apes and he gave them similar DNA. So what?"

If we can't convince them with good science, nothing will. Waste of time.

[Nevernose]

12. Lots of creationists change their minds

But they have to change it on their own, through a long process of exposure.

[tblue]

10. I don't know science

but without another point of reference, I can't draw any conclusions on my own. How would, say, a tiger's or a rat's DNA look next to these examples? Just playing devil's advocate here.

I'm not sure creationists would be terrified because they would have no idea what those squiggles are either, and might not believe you if you told them.

[exboyfil]

27. Quite a bit different

That is the point. For example a red fox (which looks a lot like a dog and would probably be classified as a member of the canine "kind" by a YEC has 34 chromosomes. A dog (as well as wolf, jackal, coyote, dingo) have 78. As the article discusses the Last Common Ancestor of humans and chimps had 48 but two of them fused in some ancestor of humans giving us 46. Further the fusing can be seen in the chromosome, and the actual chromosomes have a very similar patterns.

[Warren DeMontague]

11. If they were swayed by facts and evidence, they wouldn't be creationists.

[3catwoman3]

31. Aye...

...there's the rub.

[TNNurse]

14. Sorry to disappoint

But they do not believe in science.......

[SheilaT]

15. Actually, I'm not sure that picture is really all that useful,

especially given that humans and apes have a different number of chromosome pairs. As do humans and chimpanzees.

[ProfessorPlum]

32. SheilaT, humans have 23 pairs of chromosomes, chimps have 24

and I think that's why if you look at chromosome 2 up above, you'll see pairs of chromosomes there for the other apes.

There was a video explaining that, and why it offers amazing proof of our common descent. i'll see if I can find it.

[SheilaT]

35. My point exactly.

We are not the same in terms of chromosomes pairs. A picture like that in the OP is completely meaningless.

Yes, I understand our common descent.

But for those who deny evolution the picture in the OP is meaningless.

And very specifically, the fact that we have a different number of chromosome pairs would NOT convince the anti-evoltionists, and would in fact tend to support their hypothesis, that we are the result of separate whatever -- evolution, divine intervention, whatever.

The photograph of the chromosome pairs, especially given that we and our closest relatives have a different number of pairs, simply isn't useful

And I'm someone who more than believes in evolution.

[ProfessorPlum]

38. well, you are right in that people who didn't understand

what they were looking at, and had no context to put it in, (and are religiously opposed to understanding it) wouldn't find the image useful.

But for people who take a few minutes to understand what they are looking at, that picture is wonderful supporting evidence for common descent.

[ProfessorPlum]

33. here it is, by evolutionary biologist Ken Miller

part of a longer talk:

[busterbrown]

16. All in God’s plan my friends..

All apart of God’s Plan...

[Coyotl]

17. Ask Philosoraptor

[PowerToThePeople]

18. If socialists evolved from capitalists?

Why do we still have turd wayers?

Ans - Because not everyone has evolved yet..

[quakerboy]

19. A little bible reference will do more to confound than a squiggly picture

1) read the bible RE the ark. It gives specific dimensions for the boat in question.
2) figure out how many animals will fit in to the ark
3) point out that its certainly not one each of every currently living animal.
4) deduce that either the bible lies about it being a universal flood (unacceptable), or god created additional animals after the flood (not in the bible at all) or they put on prototype animals(ie one canine, one feline, etc) which then hyper-evolved over the course of 4000 years into all of the dogs, wolves, foxes, coyotes, etc.

And thus the bible proves evolution. On steroids.

[JoePhilly]

20. Those are just squiggly lines drawn by SATAN!!!

[localroger]

30. LIES FROM THE PIT OF HELL!!!?!?!!??$$$$$

[defacto7]

21. K & R

I mean, what else it there to say?

[WinstonSmith4740]

24. Things that make you go hm-m-m.

On chromosome #2, there's an obvious break in the chromosomes of the chimp, gorilla, and orangutan, but not in the human. There is a point where it looks like it's about to come apart, but it's being held together almost by a thread. Just an observation, but do you think that particular chromosome is evolving towards breaking, or is it coming together and homo sapiens was the first of the primate order to have it link up?

[exboyfil]

28. It fused in an ancestor of humans

The evidence can be seen in the human chromosome.

[WinstonSmith4740]

36. OK, I've gotta apologize for this in advance.

But c'mon, it's got to be said. So do you suppose this could be the missing link?

[muriel_volestrangler]

40. It fused in humans; we have 23 pairs of chromosomes, the others 24

See eg http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=WUkJAAAAQBAJ&pg=PT160&lpg=PT160

[Rex]

34. Just a bunch of squiggly lines!

[Donald Ian Rankin]

37. Do you mean "A picture I think Creationists ought to be terrified by"?

Because I'm pretty sure they aren't.

[randome]

39. The premise presumes rational thinking processes.

For die-hard Conservatives, I think we can safely discount that idea.
[hr][font color="blue"][center]TECT in the name of the Representative approves of this post.[/center][/font][hr]

[Orrex]

41. Even if they knew what that picture represents...

They'd simply dismiss it as proof that God designed the similar-looking organisms with similar-looking DNA.

[reformist2]

42. People are made up of worms!!!

[ladyVet]

44. EEK! Squiggly lines!

Squiggly lines drawn by SATAN!!!11!!!1 You are all going to burn in HELL!!1!!!11

In case this is needed: