Hum Posted November 6, 2006 Share Posted November 6, 2006 TOKYO - Japanese researchers said Sunday that a bottlenose dolphin captured last month has an extra set of fins that could be the remains of hind legs, a discovery that may provide further evidence that ocean-dwelling mammals once lived on land. Fishermen captured the four-finned dolphin alive off the coast of Wakayama prefecture in western Japan on Oct. 28, and alerted the nearby Taiji Whaling Museum, according to museum director Katsuki Hayashi. Fossil remains show dolphins and whales were four-footed land animals about 50 million years ago and share the same common ancestor as hippos and deer. Scientists believe they later transitioned to an aquatic lifestyle and their hind limbs disappeared. Whale and dolphin fetuses also show signs of hind protrusions but these generally disappear before birth. Though odd-shaped protrusions have been found near the tails of dolphins and whales captured in the past, researchers say this was the first time one had been found with well-developed, symmetrical fins, Hayashi said. "I believe the fins may be remains from the time when dolphins' ancient ancestors lived on land ... this is an unprecedented discovery," Seiji Osumi, an adviser at Tokyo's Institute of Cetacean Research, said at a news conference televised Sunday. The second set of fins ? much smaller than the dolphin's front fins ? are about the size of human hands and protrude from near the tail on the dolphin's underside. The dolphin measures 8.92 feet (2.7 meters) and is about five years old, according to the museum. Hayashi said he could not tell from watching the dolphin swim in a musuem tank whether it used its back fins to maneuver. A freak mutation may have caused the ancient trait to reassert itself, Osumi said. The dolphin will be kept at the Taiji museum to undergo X-ray and DNA tests, according to Hayashi. source Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slimy Posted November 6, 2006 Share Posted November 6, 2006 Wow, what a great find (to thos who believe in evolution!) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whitebread Posted November 16, 2006 Share Posted November 16, 2006 Wow, what a great find (to thos who believe in evolution!) Wrong. Evolution isn't a "belief", it is a fact. :rolleyes: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Echilon Posted November 17, 2006 Share Posted November 17, 2006 It looks like a mutant dolphin to me. Kids born with three legs aren't considered 'missing links' to our ancestors. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheElite Posted November 17, 2006 Share Posted November 17, 2006 It looks like a mutant dolphin to me. Kids born with three legs aren't considered 'missing links' to our ancestors. LOL! Hit the nail on the head, exactly what I was thinking. :laugh: :rofl: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_Decryptor Veteran Posted November 17, 2006 Veteran Share Posted November 17, 2006 It looks like a mutant dolphin to me. Kids born with three legs aren't considered 'missing links' to our ancestors. Well, humans haven't had 3 legs at a previous point in our development, but in dolphins, the genes where there, just "switched off" (according to somebody much smarter than me) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheElite Posted November 17, 2006 Share Posted November 17, 2006 Well, humans haven't had 3 legs at a previous point in our development, but in dolphins, the genes where there, just "switched off" (according to somebody much smarter than me) When I have a kid, I'll remember to turn on the superhuman gene :rolleyes: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Unholy Moley! Posted November 18, 2006 Share Posted November 18, 2006 Well, humans haven't had 3 legs at a previous point in our development, but in dolphins, the genes where there, just "switched off" (according to somebody much smarter than me) I think what you mean is a recessive allele or series of recessive alleles that have presented themselves in the phenotype when two mates carrying the recessive allele had offspring. Evolution isn't a "belief", it is a fact. It is a theory, supported by facts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_Decryptor Veteran Posted November 18, 2006 Veteran Share Posted November 18, 2006 When I have a kid, I'll remember to turn on the superhuman gene :rolleyes: I don't think you get what i mean. Tell me though, at what point in human evolution, did humans have superpowers? :whistle: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davemania Posted November 18, 2006 Share Posted November 18, 2006 It looks like a mutant dolphin to me. Kids born with three legs aren't considered 'missing links' to our ancestors. a more appropriate analogy would be kids born with tails. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pox Posted November 18, 2006 Share Posted November 18, 2006 Wrong. Evolution isn't a "belief", it is a fact. :rolleyes: I do agree with you, but don't say that around christians :shiftyninja: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mysterious_w Posted November 18, 2006 Share Posted November 18, 2006 I'm going with mutant theory. Either that or Lord Xenu sent it as a lost relic from our past. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fred Derf Veteran Posted November 19, 2006 Veteran Share Posted November 19, 2006 I do agree with you, but don't say that around christians :shiftyninja: The vast majority of Christians accept evolution. Only a minority of evangelicals do not. Not accepting evolution is really quite an extremist position. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John S. Veteran Posted November 19, 2006 Veteran Share Posted November 19, 2006 The vast majority of Christians accept evolution. Only a minority of evangelicals do not.Not accepting evolution is really quite an extremist position. Hey let's beat this one some more. :D It may be extremist in CA, but not here in the US. According to a 2005 Pew Research Center poll, 70 percent of evangelical Christians believe that living beings have always existed in their present form, compared with 32 percent of Protestants and 31 percent of Catholics.Politically, 60 percent of Republicans are creationists, whereas only 11 percent accept evolution, compared with 29 percent of Democrats who are creationists and 44 percent who accept evolution. A comparison of peoples' views in 34 countries finds that the United States ranks near the bottom when it comes to public acceptance of evolution. Only Turkey ranked lower.The study found that over the past 20 years: The percentage of U.S. adults who accept evolution declined from 45 to 40 percent. The percentage overtly rejecting evolution declined from 48 to 39 percent, however. And the percentage of adults who were unsure increased, from 7 to 21 percent. Slightly more than half of the American people reject evolution. During the last decade, the General Social Survey conducted by National Opinion Research Center (and directed by my colleague Dr. Tom M. Smith) has asked whether a respondent thinks that humans are descended from animals. Fifty-two percent said that either this was definitely not true or probably not true. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kriz Posted November 19, 2006 Share Posted November 19, 2006 Cool find for them, but on a more important note, more evidence for my theory that we are all descendants on retard monkey fish :shifty: Miss Garrison is always right (Y) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Japlabot Posted November 19, 2006 Share Posted November 19, 2006 ...Japanese researchers described the new species as delicious. :p Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fred Derf Veteran Posted November 19, 2006 Veteran Share Posted November 19, 2006 Hey let's beat this one some more. :D It may be extremist in CA, but not here in the US. The US is extremist in relation to the developed world except for a few places like Turkey. Roman Catholics, Anglicans and Presbyterians should all know that their church does not oppose evolution. If they polled otherwise it is due to a lack of information. I fully blame the US educational system for this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheElite Posted November 20, 2006 Share Posted November 20, 2006 I don't think you get what i mean. Tell me though, at what point in human evolution, did humans have superpowers? :whistle: When we plucked trees out of the ground and were 20ft tall :whistle: So at what point in dolphin evolution, did they have 'extra fins'? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davemania Posted November 20, 2006 Share Posted November 20, 2006 When we plucked trees out of the ground and were 20ft tall :whistle: So at what point in dolphin evolution, did they have 'extra fins'? Fossil remains show dolphins and whales were four-footed land animals about 50 million years ago and share the same common ancestor as hippos and deer. Scientists believe they later transitioned to an aquatic lifestyle and their hind limbs disappeared. legs not fins :whistle: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vincent Posted November 20, 2006 Share Posted November 20, 2006 Hey let's beat this one some more. :D It may be extremist in CA, but not here in the US. That just shows how stupid people are.... not accepting evolution is akin to not accepting oxygen existing... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_Decryptor Veteran Posted November 20, 2006 Veteran Share Posted November 20, 2006 That just shows how stupid people are.... not accepting evolution is akin to not accepting oxygen existing... I think it's more akin to Gravity, both Evolution and Gravity are natural phenomena, both are throughly documented (and as such have very strong Theories describing them), yet i don't hear many people saying they don't believe in Gravity. Edit: (Y) davemania Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheElite Posted November 20, 2006 Share Posted November 20, 2006 That just shows how stupid people are.... not accepting evolution is akin to not accepting oxygen existing... I think it's more akin to Gravity, both Evolution and Gravity are natural phenomena, both are throughly documented (and as such have very strong Theories describing them), yet i don't hear many people saying they don't believe in Gravity. Edit: (Y) davemania Maybe these people dont believe that humans were a prodct of evolution, but may believe that other species were. Evolution should be classed as 2 entities: 1) Evolution of species (not including humans) and 2) Evolution of Human. I personally would only believe the former. Maybe thats what those 50+% of Americans think aswell? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_Decryptor Veteran Posted November 20, 2006 Veteran Share Posted November 20, 2006 Maybe these people dont believe that humans were a prodct of evolution, but may believe that other species were. Evolution should be classed as 2 entities: 1) Evolution of species (not including humans) and 2) Evolution of Human. I personally would only believe the former. Maybe thats what those 50+% of Americans think aswell? But that's wrong, we don't separate Gravity into "effects objects and animals" and "effects humans" We are related to monkeys, we have evidence for that, trying to break the "link" to appease some people is a bad idea. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John S. Veteran Posted November 20, 2006 Veteran Share Posted November 20, 2006 That just shows how stupid people are.... not accepting evolution is akin to not accepting oxygen existing... I'll be glad to count myself among the stupid Americans, than to swallow the drivel accepted as truth in here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vincent Posted November 20, 2006 Share Posted November 20, 2006 I'll be glad to count myself among the stupid Americans, than to swallow the drivel accepted as truth in here. Too bad nature doesn't agree with you :sleep: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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