Ungh, I was just looking at this on other areas of the net.

People are arguing that humans aren't evolving.
Others are arguing that all human mutations are failures in evolution.

I'm not a member of those sites, but I would like to point out, THIS IS TOTALLY BOGUS.

Evolution IS currently occurring in humans, and there ARE cases of mutations being beneficial to the individuals.


For instance, there are many cases arising in the eastern world, Arabia comes to mind, in which people are being born without Clavicles, (Without collarbones.)

The clavicle is not a mechanically necessary bone structure, in fact, in our standing form (as we are now) it actually impedes your capability to reach somewhat, not to mention is incredibly fragile and prone to damage.

In the past, back when we were crawling animals (you will find these bone structures on many other crawling animals), the clavicle was required to support the upper chassis of the body.

Now that we walk on our hind legs, the clavicle has outlived it's purpose.

These individuals being born without clavicles have a greater reach than those with clavicles, and increased flexibility, in that they can shift their shoulders forward to reach further.

They do not experience any undesirable side effects. (Aside from doctors wanting to xray and examine them repeatedly through curiosity.)

So if someone tells you that either "Humans aren't evolving" or "All mutations in humans are 100% useless, ergo, evolution isn't through mutation", you can point, laugh, and proceed to inform them they are full of it.

This is fascinating!

Think of a cat getting ready to jump. The shoulders 'lift'.

I am sure that there is something to (physical)genetic memory and we don't understand it yet...

Too bad PIGS aren't growing wing-things. I was hoping pigs would fly so I can win my bet I had.

this mutation is a result of the pollution that is rife in china.all manners of waste products are emmited throughout china and permeate the biosphere,there are cancer villages where every other person develops cancer due to polluted water supplies sourced from factory waste and manufacturing bi product dumping.these villages life expectancies are somewhat in the regions of the 30-40.s and there are alot of them.

this is nothing to do with evolution just non existant envirnomental standards.

my cat could loose his legs and not notice he sleeps so much..

[edit on 27-8-2008 by fatdad]

Hmm maybe it is an evolutionary trait to help defend cats in china from being eaten. Ya know nature's saying "heck give em wings let the humans deal with a flying cat"

Lol, I know what's going on.
You see over there in China, they eat cats. So the cats started experimenting with genecoding and x-men science and firgured the only way them asians could'nt catch them is if they sprouted wings so they can fly off Lol .
Or it could be that the Chinese are trying to create BBQ CatWings, Sorta Like BBQ Buffulo Wings Lol.

Seriously though, this is some wierd stuff, I don't see how those wings would be heat regulaters though, they would have to be bald or incredibly short haired to have that function. I honestly think it's a result of some crazy chemical or something floating around.

Or God's just screwing with us, trying to pull an april fools on us in September lol.

-Jimmy

Originally posted by johnsky

Evolution IS currently occurring in humans, and there ARE cases of mutations being beneficial to the individuals.


For instance, there are many cases arising in the eastern world, Arabia comes to mind, in which people are being born without Clavicles, (Without collarbones.)

The clavicle is not a mechanically necessary bone structure, in fact, in our standing form (as we are now) it actually impedes your capability to reach somewhat, not to mention is incredibly fragile and prone to damage.

In the past, back when we were crawling animals (you will find these bone structures on many other crawling animals), the clavicle was required to support the upper chassis of the body.

Now that we walk on our hind legs, the clavicle has outlived it's purpose.

These individuals being born without clavicles have a greater reach than those with clavicles, and increased flexibility, in that they can shift their shoulders forward to reach further.

On that issue, have these clavicle-less persons been physically tested to do some strnagely human things. For instance, how does not havign a clavicle affect the ability to crawl on the floor? I would say this may impede in a military situation.

What about pull-ups/chin-ups. Can they effectively perform these excercises, as well as push-ups as well as a person with a clavicle?

I broke the same clavicle twice when I was a young child. Was it all for naught?

As far as the cats go, if there are no bones its obviously just a skin disorder/mutation