I was tempted to start this thread after hearing it one too many times from individuals; a recent talk with John Paul reminded me of that, and I figured I'd start a thread. As an example, a quick search on evcforum itself shows a poster named Ryan Bibler stating:
"I have a question for the biologists in the group. How exactly can a new species end up with a different number of chromosomes than the species from which it descended? For example, hares have 24 pairs of chromosomes, while domestic rabbits have 22 and cottontails have 21. Back when I was a creationist, I would use this discrepancy as an argument against macroevolution. I'm just curious about the mechanism of how this works, thanks. "
(note: looks like most of the points that I raised here were raised there as well. Oh well
)
Hmmm... looks like SPLx did the same thing
over here. He cites Davidson's obsession with chromosomal change.
Shoot... I thought I was posting something new
That's what I get for not searching thoroughly enough first... Anyway, I'll list a few more:
navajoeverclear wrote:
"If evolution is gradual, why are there any distinct species? I don't see why there wouldn't be as much 'intermediate' species as 'definate' ones, if evolution is how it works. I'm not saying all evolution is wrong(or that i understand it well enough to say(thats why i'm asking)), i can definately accept natural selection, but i don't see one species changing into another. All dogs have the same amount of chromosomes--- though their appearance and general behavior varies from breeds. For there to become a new species, there must be a different number of chromosomes, is there such thing as a partial chromosome(i'm pretty sure there isn't)? If not, how does a creature suddenly gain more or less chromosomes?
Back to JohnPaul, he stated earlier:
"Creationists see the difference in chromosomes as a tell-tale indication primates and humans did not share a common ancestor. Primates have 48 chromosomes and humans have 46. "
(etc)
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"Illuminant light,
illuminate me."
[This message has been edited by Rei, 12-17-2003]