New Fossil of a Transitional Ancestor of Sea Mammals. - by Nicker
june gloom on 23/4/2009 at 04:08
What the fuck is with that argument in the comments? Talk about inane.
Nicker on 23/4/2009 at 04:12
Quote Posted by dethtoll
What the fuck is with that argument in the comments? Talk about inane.
Canadians are very polite... to foreigners. But we can get pretty rough with each other on the boards though. It's a hockey thing, I think.
jtr7 on 23/4/2009 at 04:46
Inane?
Quote Posted by Nicker
Obviously Satan put the misleading fossil in their path and sucked the gas out of their vehicle to make sure they found it...
Oooooo...why, I otter--!:mad:
Ps 104:24 O LORD, how manifold are thy works! in wisdom hast thou made them all: the earth is full of thy riches.
:ebil:
O Flying Spaghetti Monster! O Purple Pastapus, creator of the Puijila! Great are thy cosmic noodlings!
I had an embittered pedant evolutionist tell me the concept of a "missing link" was never used by scientists, only detractors. He got real angry at me for saying I've see the terms used in articles many times in real science periodicals by excited scientists happy to find another link. My knowledge of something true he didn't want to accept led to his opinion losing power and his insecurities came to the fore. This kind of thing just cannot be allowed to happen on the winning team's side! Always loud and angry, they are, the cock-sure ignoramuses, self-appointed speakers for truth. Both sides are populated by human beings, unfortunately.
Naw. Thems ain't phony baloney bonies.
Vivian on 23/4/2009 at 07:19
jtr7: Your embittered friend was right. 'Missing Link' is a colloquial buzzword that you will never see in a serious scientific paper less than 40 years old or so (New Scientist might stick it in occasionally, but I think even they put it in quote marks), for the following reasons:
It implies a direct ancestor-descendant relationship between the fossil animal you've found and some modern animal group, which is so close to impossible that the distinction is not worth making.
It ignores the fact that evolutionary series are smooth continuua, not a series of discrete 'links'.
When you see the phrase 'missing link' (and seriously, if you have seen this unqualified in serious scientific journals, please post links. Because I don't believe you) if means that someone has found an animal related to some modern group that has characteristics of both it and some earlier group. It even actually says that at the end of the seal article.
demagogue on 23/4/2009 at 17:39
Interesting (the news, I mean), but not quite as exciting as the day I learned that whales and hippos share a common heritage. I just feel happier knowing that.
Vivian on 23/4/2009 at 18:02
Whales and deer is weirder though.
Nicker on 23/4/2009 at 21:48
Or the elephant and the hyrax make a pretty odd, closest living relative, pairing but not as wild as the whale connection.
I like this new fossil because it is Canadian (plays national anthem on the kazoo) and it represents one more transitional form for the ID lobby to ignore - although, to be fair, it might explain what happened to the serpent's lost legs.
Renzatic on 23/4/2009 at 23:17
Hey guys! Did you hear did you hear did you hear?
religion XD
gunsmoke on 24/4/2009 at 02:42
Quote Posted by Vivian
Whales and
deer is weirder though.
Dinosaurs and birds is
are cooler though. ;)
