Ready, Steady, Evolve

Stront writes "New Scientist is reporting that plants and animals can 'bottle up' evolution until they need it. A certain protein 'hides away' mutated genes acting like a genetic valet, however in extreme environments, such as high temperature or noxious chemicals, the cleaning process breaks down and the mutations are released all at once. This goes some way to explaining examples that are considered to defy standard evolutionary theory, such as the Bombardier Beetle."

Comments

Occam's Razor

[EricLivingston]

Well, I'm still more tempted to believe that over the course of hundreds of millions of years and trillions of beetles that bombadier effect eventually evolved than to believe that there is, instead, a being who exists outside of time itself, created, is aware of, and in fact influences every single atom in the universe simultaneously, and decided to bother spending his/her time (in his/her own timeline/dimension) designing billions of different life forms, down to the smallest single-celled organism.

Why couldn't the beetle have started out by just squirting a drop of some chemical when it got upset? Maybe that was enough to give it an edge. Then, perhaps it evolved to squirt its drop of stuff at things, instead of in the general vicinity (like a skunk). Then, perhaps over time other chemicals got added to increase the nastiness of the squirt, including reactants, inhibitors, etc. Perhaps at first this was all much more simple, with just a pressure-sealed orifice that squirted out when the pressure built up enough inside, and the whole "trap door" thing came later as greater pressure wound up creating better squirts and enhanced survivability.

In my opinion, it's WAY easier to come up with a viable evolution story for this beetle than to go off the deep and and talk about some kind omnipotent, omniscient being that specifically and deliberately thinks to himself (Hmm, how about if I create a beetle that squirts super-hot exhaust out of its ass-end at attackers? That'd be good for a laugh..."). I mean, come on, like this omnipotent being wouldn't have something better to do? What about all the critters living down at the bottom of the ocean? Like those worms that feed off super-heated vents in the darkest depths? What the hell would they be designed for? Or the insects that live in your eyebrows? Intelligent design? It's amazing that people assert that the argument from design makes more sense than evolution - I think it makes absolutely no sense at all!

Speed is of the essence

[Magnus]

This is logical since the organism that can change fastest wins.
So store up potential until you need it.

This isn't sensational, it has to be. ///Magnus