Mutations

[FreeThinker]

Hey all,

 

Has anyone got pictures of animals that were born with a mutation? I think that mutations are strong evidence for evolution and I am trying to collect as many pictures as I can. Eventually I plan to make a website to display them all. I have already got four ; a double headed snake, a trout with 2 mouths ,bull with five legs and a cat with one eye. All of these mutations would prove to be a disadvantage should they have happened in the wild. It would be an extra bonus if someone could provide a picture of a mutation that could be beneficial to the animal in question. I realize that the chances of this are small, but it is worth a shot.

 

 

 

Cheers,

 

Free Thinker

[Royston]

Off the top of my head Bizarre magazine has had plenty of pics of mutations. Try back issues, or maybe visit the website.

[aguy2]

I think that mutations are strong evidence for evolution; a double headed snake, a trout with 2 mouths ,bull with five legs and a cat with one eye.

 

Do these animals display 'true' mutations, or do they just represent assembly errors? If they represent true mutations shouldn't the new characteristics be capable of being passed down to subsequent generations?

 

aguy2

[Dak]

try a google image search.

 

Note that, usually, gross morphological oddities are due to errors in the developmental proccess, which means that they are not nessesaraly genetic mutations: environmental (eg, tamazipan) or pure luck (eg, siamese twins) can cause them as easily, if not easyer, than genetics can.

 

In other words, in many cases they are not inheritable, and so can't really be used as direct evidence for evolution.

 

[edit]As aguy2 pretty-much said [/edit]

[FreeThinker]

Good point... I dont know why I never though of that!

[chemfreak]

It would still be a cool website and i think you should continue to persue it

[herpguy]

Here's an albino alligator. It obviously isn't a good trait because it cannot blend in with its surroundings.

 

[herpguy]

I have another one; a two headed turtle:

 

Here is a one eyed frog: