Monsters have now finished their walkies. And I should recommend another book.
Endless Forms Most Beautiful
is specifically about evo devo, but another book that has a lot to say on the subject - and I think puts it into a more interesting context - is Neil Shubin's
Your Inner Fish.
[link]
The story behind it: the author, Neil Shubin, is one of the discoverers of
Tiktaalik.
[link]
This is a very important transitional fossil - a lobe-finned fish from the time when tetrapods - land vertebrates - were first evolving. If not our own direct ancestor, it's a close offshoot.
Shubin used this as a starting point to discuss the evolution of the various components of our (tetrapod) bodies, and specifically what we can learn from the comparison to Tiktaalik. It's a very effective narrative structure, and when talking about how bodies developed, necessarily pulls in a lot of good information on evo devo.
Isn't today erikaj's birthday? Happy birthday!
Happy Birthday, erika!!!
I missed Trudy! Of all the nights to actually sleep.
And I should recommend another book. Endless Forms Most Beautiful is specifically about evo devo, but another book that has a lot to say on the subject - and I think puts it into a more interesting context - is Neil Shubin's Your Inner Fish.
I have that book! I liked it, but it wasn't as great a read as I expected.
Happy birthday, erika!
Happy Birthday, erika!
Does Neil Shubin explain why our knees are such a ridiculous design?
Does Neil Shubin explain why our knees are such a ridiculous design?
I do not know, but I think that's an easy one. We're bipeds getting around on quadrupedal knees. I believe that's also largely what's to blame for hernias, and possibly some of the difficulties of childbirth (though quadrupedal hyenas have that even worse, courtesy of an umbilical cord half the length of the birth canal).
