Reply #4: This kind of developmental adaptation has big implications for... [View All]

[phantom power]

our understanding of how fast certain kinds of evolution can occur, and where the variation *really* comes from. Clearly, it also has implications for answering questions of the "irreducible complexity" variety. Here we have the appearance of entirely new muscular-skeletal features, with *no* genetic mutation required.

He mentions kangaroos. In light of this information, it's suddenly possible to conceptualize major skeletal and muscular adaptations for "free," genetically speaking. An animal with a mutation for small front legs might acquire most(?) of it's adaptation in the hind-legs simply in response to it's development and lifestyle. Shit, it's almost Lamarckian.