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Multi-level repeated evolution of complex traits: 94 independent origins of bioluminescence
First things first: Bioluminescence is the production of light by living organisms, the light emitted by organisms such as glow-worms, deep-sea fish, fireflies and others. And now some words from Darwinian fantasy storytellers ( from a mainstream article, published December 2020): We argue that bioluminescence, a complex trait that evolved dozens of times through either […]
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Blood clotting – Surprising degree of repeated evolution in vertebrates and invertebrates
Hello? Darwinians ? Why is everything so surprising? from a mainstream paper: Recent delineation of the serine protease cascade controlling dorsal–ventral patterning during Drosophila embryogenesis allows this cascade to be compared with those controlling clotting and complement in vertebrates and invertebrates. Extensive similarities suggest that these cascades were built by adding enzymes from the bottom […]
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Repeated evolution of Myelin – a sheath of multilayered membranes around nerves nodes.
Current concepts of invertebrate phylogeny are reviewed. Annelida and Arthropoda, previously regarded as closely related, are now placed in separate clades. Myelin, a sheath of multiple layers of membranes around nerve axons, is found in members of the Annelida, Arthropoda and Chordata. The structure, composition and function of the sheaths in Annelida and Arthropoda are […]
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Repeated Evolution Versus Common Ancestry
from a mainstream paper: Why sex chromosomes turn over and remain undifferentiated in some taxa, whereas they degenerate in others, is still an area of ongoing research. The recurrent occurrence of homologous and homomorphic sex chromosomes in distantly related taxa suggests their independent evolution or continued recombination since their first emergence. Here, we focus on […]
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Repeated evolution of super-vision shakes up the dogma of deep-sea vision
I will repeat myself again, but i have to say it one more time – it is not easy to understand how natural selection works. Deep-sea species. One would expect, that so deep, where is no light, no eyes are needed at all. But not this time … Here, random mutations AKA unguided natural process […]
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Repeated evolution: same pseudogenes evolved independently in human and non-human primate lineages
What is left of common ancestry and shared DNA errors ? A pseudogene is defined to be a gene that has lost its function, especially it has lost the ability of coding protein. In general, a pseudogene is generated by gain of premature stop codons due to point mutations or flame-shift mutations. The acceptance of […]
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Repeated evolution: 11 Mitochondrial Genes in Deep-Sea Fishes changed the same way independently
The adaptive evolution of the mtDNA may reflect that aerobic metabolism plays a more important role than anaerobic metabolism in deep-sea fishes, whose energy sources (food) are extremely limited. This strategy maximizes the usage of energy sources. Eleven mitochondrial genes have convergent/parallel amino acid changes between branches of deep-sea fishes. Thus, these amino acid sites […]
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Repeated evolution: The same mutation occurred 20 times independently in fishes’ light-sensitive eye-protein.
Here we show that a missense mutation in rhodopsin (Phe261Tyr) is an adaptation to the red-shifted Baltic Sea light environment. The transition from phenylalanine to tyrosine differs only by the presence of a hydroxyl moiety in the latter, but this results in an up to 10-nm red-shifted light absorbance of the receptor. Remarkably, an examination […]
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Surprising repeated devolution: Various species lineages lost teeth independently, despite crucial role of teeth in species survival
i will repeat myself yet again: it is not easy to understand how natural selection works … even the researcher below is quite surprised (these guys are always surprised): Since their recruitment in the oral cavity, approximately 450 million years ago, teeth have been subjected to strong selective constraints due to the crucial role that […]
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Repeated evolution: Webbed foot evolved many times independently
The webbed foot is a specialized limb present in a variety of vertebrates that aids in locomotion. This adaptation is primarily found in semi-aquatic species, and has convergently (repeatedly) evolved many times across vertebrate taxa. It likely arose from mutations in developmental genes that normally cause tissue between the digits to apoptose. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Webbed_foot one would think, that there was some […]