ttyo888 Posted February 16, 2008 Share Posted February 16, 2008 I wonder if there are cases of creatures reevolving traits they had in the past naturally without human intervention. Like say, a bird reevolving fingers or it's vertebrae of its tail or spine unfusing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ecoli Posted February 16, 2008 Share Posted February 16, 2008 It's possible of course, but there has to be the right combinations of mutations and selection pressures. I think the jargon used in phylogenics is called a "reversal" of a character state. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daecon Posted February 16, 2008 Share Posted February 16, 2008 Yes. It's called Atavism. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ecoli Posted February 16, 2008 Share Posted February 16, 2008 Yes. It's called Atavism. The examples in the article aren't really being selected for, I don't think. It occurs in individuals, but the entire population doesn't get the trait back. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bombus Posted February 25, 2008 Share Posted February 25, 2008 Armadillos re-evolved scales in place of fur. Snakes re-evolved limblessness -as did slow worms. Woolly mammoths re-evolved fur from being pacyderms - as did woolly rhinos. Can't think of any others right now. Probably loads of examples though. Not sure about regaining lost limbs though. Evolution tends to go a certain way and develops easier ways of getting the same end result than simply going into a reverse gear. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Psycho Posted February 26, 2008 Share Posted February 26, 2008 Armadillos re-evolved scales in place of fur.Snakes re-evolved limblessness -as did slow worms. Woolly mammoths re-evolved fur from being pacyderms - as did woolly rhinos. Can't think of any others right now. Probably loads of examples though. Not sure about regaining lost limbs though. Evolution tends to go a certain way and develops easier ways of getting the same end result than simply going into a reverse gear. Indeed, in the cases you have stated most are for warmth as the climate naturally chained or cause it heated back up again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CDarwin Posted February 26, 2008 Share Posted February 26, 2008 I wonder if there are cases of creatures reevolving traits they had in the past naturally without human intervention. Like say, a bird reevolving fingers or it's vertebrae of its tail or spine unfusing. You shouldn't necessarily think of the process as "re-evolution." That's just something we might say retrospectively. If a primate evolved claws, for example, it isn't "reversing" to it earlier state of clawedness, it is only evolving structures similar to claws for a functional purpose. That's what marmosets have done, by the way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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