22 results found.
... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 87: May-Jun 1993 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Fossil Feathers Fly A. Feduccia's cartoon of the bug-catching phase of bird evolution Our alliterative title is apt on two counts: (1 ) Recent research on the famous Archaeopteryx fossils suggest that this animal could indeed fly and was arboreal rather than terrestrial; and (2 ) The paleontologists and ornithologists are still fighting (sometimes emotionally) over how Archaeopteryx fossils should be interpreted. The scientific acrimony centers on whether this ancient bird really evolved from small theropod dinosaurs. Prevailing theory has it that these dinosaurs first evolved feathers to keep warm and then used their feathered "arms" to help capture insects, and so on, with some aimless flapping, to the attainment of true flight. A rival, officially frownedupon theory has it that birds evolved from tree-dwelling reptiles that evolved feathers to break their falls while jumping from branch to branch! [Somehow, neither theory strikes a realistic chord. Why couldn't feathers have evolved solely for the purpose of flight? Answer: because evolutionists cannot countenance purpose in nature. WRC] One reconstruction of Archaeopteryx. There is a remarkable superficial resemblance to the living South American hoatzin. Young hoatzin even sport claws on their wings. Anyway, the latest fusillade in the Archaeopteryx wars was fired by A. Feduccia in Science. Feduccia demonstrated that the claws of Archaeopteryx are sharp and curved like those of modern arboreal birds and quite unlike either terrestrial birds or theropod dinosaurs. In ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 42: Nov-Dec 1985 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Feathers fly over fossil 'fraud' How many plays on words do you count in the following paragraph? "Britain's own scientific knight-errant, Sir Fred Hoyle, has fallen fowl of the palaeontologists. He has flocked together with those who think that the best-ever missing link, the reptile-bird Archaeopteryx, is a convenient fake. Creationists are understandably in high feather about it all. But now, it looks as though they may be left with egg on their faces. ' We first reported on the Archaeopteryx Affair in SF#39. In the present article by Ted Nield, the evolutionists seem to be responding to Hoyle's claim with ridicule and innuendo. Referring to the claim of fossil forgery, which Hoyle based on photos taken with a low-angle flash and EN100 film, Nield wonders why it was published in the British Journal of Photography instead of Nature or Science implying that Hoyle's group didn't dare submit their report to high-class journals! As for the "discovery" of double-struck feathers in the Archaeopteryx fossil, which Hoyle thinks were the result of inexpert forgers, Nield remarks that these were noted by naked as long ago as 1954, and are due to two rows of slightly overlapping feathers with faint "through-printing". And while it is true that the two halves of the fossil studied by the Hoyle group are not perfect positive ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 50: Mar-Apr 1987 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Feathered Flights Of Fancy Some more salvos have been fired in an endlessly fascinating controversy (at least it is that to us). First, F. Hoyle and C. Wickramasinghe, hardly strangers to these columns, have published Archaeopteryx, The Primordial Bird: A Case of Fossil Forgery. The book elaborates their theory that the Archaeopteryx fossils, much ballyhooed as "proofs" of evolution, are outright forgeries. Second, T. Kemp, a zoologist on the staff of the University Museum, has returned the fire with a mean-minded review. He states that Hoyle and Wickramasinghe "exhibit a staggering ignorance about the nature of fossils and fossilization processes." Kemp concludes his review with an admission that the possibility of forgery should indeed be investigated. "But it should be done by those who actually understand fossils, fossilization and fossil preparation, not by a couple of people who exhibit nothing more than a gargantuan conceit that they are clever enough to solve other people's problems for them when they do not even begin to recognize the nature and complexity of the problems." (Kemp, Tom; "Feather Flights of Fancy," Nature, 324:185, 1986.) Finally, Hoyle and Wickramasinghe reply in a letter to Nature that L.M . Spetner and his colleagues in Israel have analyzed samples of the Archaeopteryx fossil with a scanning electron microscope and X-ray spectroscopy. Results: the rock ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 46: Jul-Aug 1986 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Archaeopteryx and forgery: another viewpoint We have here what must be considered the evolutionists' reply to the claim of Hoyle and Wickramasinghe that overzealous followers of Darwin deliberately tampered with scientific evidence. "Archaeopteryx lithographica might be regarded as the most important zoological species known, fossil or recent. Its importance lies not in that its transitional nature is unique -- there are many such transitional forms at all taxonomic levels -- but in the fact that it is an obvious and comprehensible example of organic evolution. There have been recent allegations that the feather impressions on Archaeopteryx are a forgery. In this report, proof of authenticity is provided by exactly matching hairline cracks and dendrites on the feathered areas of the opposing slabs, which show the absence of the artificial cement layer into which modern feathers could have been pressed by a forger." (Charig, Alan J., et al; "Archaeopteryx Is Not a Forgery," Science, 232:622, 1986.) Comment. The article itself offers some new evidence, but seems to fall a bit short of the proof promised in the Abstract. Let us wait for a rebuttal by Hoyle & Co. The Abstract's claim that many transitional forms exist at all taxonomic levels certainly does not square with the fossil record described by the punctuated evolutionists! In any event, the fossil record gap between dinosaurs and sophisticatedly feathered Archaeopteryx is still a Marianas Trench. From Science Frontiers # ...
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... : The Book Sourcebook Project B BIOLOGY Catalog of Anomalies (Biology Subjects)Within each of these fields, catalog sections that are already in print are given alphanumerical labels. For example, BHB1 = B (Biology)+ H (Humans)+ B (Behavior)+ 1 (first anomaly in Chapter BHB). Some anomalies and curiosities that are listed below have not yet been cataloged and published in catalog format. These do not have the alphanumerical labels. BA ARTHROPODS Titles not yet posted BB BIRDS BBA EXTERNAL APPEARANCE AND MORPHOLOGY BBA1 Avian Asymmetries BBA2 Female Hawks Larger Than Males BBA3 Skewed Sex Ratios of Offspring BBA4 Vividly Colored and Highly Patterned Avian Plumages and Ornaments BBA5 Plumage Polymorphism BBA6 Females with Male Plumage BBA7 Molting before Hatching BBA8 Unusual Diversification and Conservation in Plumage BBA9 Complexity and Sophistication of Feathers BBA10 Complexity and Sophistication of Feather Color-and-Pattern-Generation Mechanisms BBA11 Unusual Plumage-Color Changes BBA12 Feather Curiosities BBA13 Neoteny in Feathers BBA14 Tooth Substitutes in Modern Birds BBA15 Birds Lacking Egg Teeth BBA16 Extreme Sexual Dimorphism in Bills BBA17 Bill Polymorphisms BBA18 Avian Bills: Unusual Adaptations BBA19 Wing Claws BBA20 Wing Spurs BBA21 The Alula or Bastard Wing BBA22 Some Curiosities of Avian Feet BBA23 Inherited Callosities BBA24 Unusual Pouches on Birds BBA25 Luminous Birds BBA26 Odoriferous Birds BBA27 Egg Complexity and Sophistication BBA28 Bird Eggs: Color, Pattern and Size Curiosities BBA29 Egg Mimicry BBA30 Mimicry of Other Species and the Environment BBA31 Remarkable Convergences of Appearance and Habits BBA32 Frightmolt BBA33 The Hollow in the Back of the Young Common Cuckoo BBB AVIAN BEHAVIOR BBB1 Avian Intelligence BBB2 Complexity and Sophistication of Avian Mental Processes BBB3 Enigmas of Instinct ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 39: May-Jun 1985 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Status of archaeopteryx up in the air!That famous missing link, Archaeopteryx, the flying reptile, continues to make headlines. The major argument at the 1984 International Archaeopteryx Conference, in Eichstaett, was about whether Archaeopteryx could fly at all, despite its advanced, aerodynamically shaped feathers. It certainly could not have flown well since it lacks the supracoracoideus pulley-system that acts as a wing elevator in birds. Archaeopteryx could not have raised its wings above the horizontal, making it a poor flier at best. It also lacked the birds' keel bone to which the wing muscles are anchored. But those exquisitely designed feathers, so modern in appearance, tilted the scales. The consensus of the Conference was that Archaeopteryx could indeed fly. (Howgate, Michael E.; "Back to the Trees for Archaeopteryx in Bavaria," Nature, 313:435, 1985.) The really interesting part of the continuing Archaeopteryx saga comes from the recent charge of Fred Hoyle and others that the Archaeopteryx fossil is an outright forgery. Hoyle et al insist that Archaeopteryx could not have flown at all, given its bones and musculature. Archaeopteryx looks like a reptile and was a reptile. As for the modern-looking feathers, they were probably added to the fossil fraudulently. And there do seem to be parts of the fossils on display in London and East Berlin that look highly suspicious. Conventional paleontologists are, of course, aghast ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 59: Sep-Oct 1988 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects THE NEW ARCHAEOPERYX FOSSIL A new fossil of Archaeopteryx has been found in a private collection, where it was misclassified as a small dinosaur. The specimen was actually found many years ago by an amateur in the Upper Jurassic Solnhofen limestone in Bavaria, in about the same area as the Berlin and Eichstatt Archaeopteryx fossils. Under low-angle illumination, the new specimen shows parallel impressions originating from the lower arm of the left "wing." These impressions are "interpreted" as imprints of feather shafts. Thus, the new fossil reinforces the mainstream position that Archaeopteryx really did have feathers and was a link between reptiles and birds. Evolutionists will rest easier now. Two bothersome observations intrude, however. First, although the report on the new specimen states that the question of forgery does not arise here, even though the specimen's tail has been restored to the length deemed by the owner. In addition, the new Archaeopteryx is 10% larger than the London specimen, 30% larger than the Berlin specimen, and fully twice the size of the Eichstatt specimen. Is there more than one Archaeopteryx species? (Wellnhofer, Peter; "A New Specimen of Archaeopteryx," Science, 240:1790, 1988. Also: Wilford, John Noble; "Fossil May Help Tie Reptiles to Birds," New York Times, June 24, 1988. Cr. J. Covey) Comment. We wonder if Hoyle and ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 8: Fall 1979 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Chicken-plucking by tornados In the early 1840s, Professor Loomis of Western Reserve College stuffed dead chickens into an eight pounder and fired the cannon vertically. Object: to see if high velocities would deplume the chickens. It seems that Loomis didn't know whether to believe all those stories about tornados tearing the feathers off chickens. Unfortunately, his experiments were inconclusive because the cannon disgorged clouds of feathers plus well-shredded chickens. He recommended that other scientists try lower muzzle velocities! Since those more innocent days, science has accumulated many eye-witness accounts of this incredible phenomenon, including actual photographs that do not appear to have been tampered with in the darkroom. There can no longer be any reasonable doubt, tornados do deplume chickens. (Galway, Joseph G., and Schaefer, Joseph T.; "Fowl Play," Weatherwise, 32:116, 1979.) From Science Frontiers #8 , Fall 1979 . 1979-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 30: Nov-Dec 1983 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects A Weak Missing Link Evolutionists have always pointed to the Archaeopteryx as a most convincing missing link between the reptiles and birds. The modern study of some really excellent fossil specimens of Archaeopteryx have clouded this issue. The feathers of Archaeopteryx, as preserved in fine limestone, are found to be asymmetrical as required for efficient flight. (Flightless birds have symmetric feathers) The skull is more birdlike than previously thought. In fact, some aspects of Archaeopteryx are like those in "advanced" birds; others are "primitive" There are now three strongly held views among scientists: Archaeopteryx is related to: (1 ) crocodiles; (2 ) theropod dinosaurs; and (3 ) thecodontians (other reptiles). (Benton, Michael J.; "No Consensus on Archaeopteryx," Nature, 305:99, 1983.) From Science Frontiers #30, NOV-DEC 1983 . 1983-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 21: May-Jun 1982 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Oh magic, thy name is psi Winkelman has written a remarkable article. Even more remarkable is the fact that it has been published in a mainstream scientific journal. In fact, this contribution is full of statements guaranteed to ruffle the feathers of any rationalistic scientist -- and 99.9 % of all scientists are rationalistic. Take, for example, the first sentence of Winkelman's summary: "The correspondences between parapsychological research findings and anthropological reports of magical phenomena reviewed here suggest that magic is associated with an order of the universe which, although investigated empirically within parapsychology, is outside of the understanding of the Western scientific framework." As a consequence of this inflammatory tone of the article, the comments that follow are rather emotional in many instances. A philosopher could write another paper on the character and prejudices of the "scientific belief system" based on these comments alone! Enough of the controversial nature of Winkelman's article; what does it say? Basically, it states that many magic systems; such as sorcery, witchcraft, divination, and faith healing; may have originated and still be sustained by the psi abilities of the practitioners of magic. Psi here includes telepathy, precognition, psychokinesis, etc. The body of the paper reviews the characteristics of magic and the areas "correspondence" with parapsychology. Examples of areas of correspondence: altered states of consciousness, visualization, positive expectation, and belief. ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 42: Nov-Dec 1985 Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues Last Issue Next Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Contents Archaeology Immense Complex of Structures Found in Peru Great Pyramid Entrance Tunnel Not Astronomically Aligned More Pyramid Caveats Astronomy A Large Quasar Inhomogeneity in the Sky Double-star System Defies Relativity Peace and Sunspots The Missing Sunspot Peak A Different Way of Looking At the Solar System Origin of the Moon Debated Biology Ri = Dugong; Doggone! Can Spores Survive in Interstellar Space? Fungus Manufactures Phony Blueberry Flowers Music in the Ear Guiding Cell Migration Remarkable Distribution of Hydrothermal Vent Animals Trees May Not Converse After All! Geology Feathers Fly Over Fossil 'Fraud' Sand Dunes 3 Kilometers Down The Night of the Polar Dinosaur Geophysics The Sausalito Hum Mysterious Hums: the Sequel Psychology Left-handers Have Larger Interbrain Connections Geomagnetic Activity and Paranormal Experiences Taking Food From Thought Logic & Mathematics The Fabric of Prime Number Distribution Chemistry & Physics Speculations From Gold ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 36: Nov-Dec 1984 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Is a dog more like a lizard or a chicken?Cladism has been around since at least 1950, when the German entomologist William Hennig began classifying organisms in a new way. "His method was simple: classifications of animals and plants should be based on an assessment of their characters, and only advanced, or derived, characters (synapomorphies) should be used. For example, the character 'possession of feathers' is a synapomorphy shared by all birds that is found in no other organisms; it is used in classification to define Class Aves. All birds have a backbone too, but that is a primitive character for birds because it is seen in all other vertebrates. Primitive characters are of no use in defining a monophyletic group." Early on, cladism ignited many fireworks in the biological community. Today, cladism has become quite respectable. The cladists, however, are now fighting among themselves. One camp draws their "cladograms" (see illustration) using evolutionary theory as a guide. The other side believes that the cladograms should be drawn up first, based only upon actual characters and ignoring the theory of evolution -- let the species fall where they may. When evolutonary theory is omitted in the deliberations, radically different cladograms result. Mammals then seem more closely related to birds than reptiles, for example, as expressed in the illustration. A key connecting character here is mutual warmbloodedness. The shifting of ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 50: Mar-Apr 1987 Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues Last Issue Next Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Contents Archaeology Hardball for Keeps Connecticut "Boat" Cairn "High"-tech Farming At Tiahuanaco Astronomy The Cosmological Atlantis Mysterious Bright Arcs May Be the Largest Objects in the Universe Too Many Short-period Comets Quantized Galaxy Redshifts The Fossil Record and the Quantization of Life! Biology Whales and Seafloor Pits Strange Patterns in Another Oceanic Habitat Lunar Magnetic Mollusc Monarchs Slighted -- sorry! Did We Learn to Swim Before We Learned to Walk? How Cancers Fight Chemotherapy The Melanic Moth Myth Chain of Crevicular Habitats? Feathered Flights of Fancy Geology Why Are Antarctic Meteorites Different? More on the Soviet Plume Events Geophysics Sympathetic Lightning Ball Lightning Burns A Rayed Circle on A Shed Wall Magnetic Precursors of Large Storms On the Trail of the Fifth Force Psychology Do You Hear What I Hear? Mind-bending the Velocity Vectors of Marine Algae ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 87: May-Jun 1993 Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues Last Issue Next Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Contents Archaeology The 50,000-year-old americans of pedra furada The zuni enigma The american discovery of europe! Astronomy The earth: a doubly charmed planet Cosmic soot and organic asteroids Biology Fossil feathers fly Is caddy a mammal? The uniqueness of human adolescence Animals attack human technological infrastructure Late survival of mammoths Geology Whence the earth's pulse? Giant impact-wave deposit along u.s . east coast Geophysics The vent glow and "blind" shrimp Amazons in the sky The bottle-green icebergs of antarctica Psychology Alien abuctions: were they, are they real? Calculating prodigies, gnats, and smart weapons ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 8: Fall 1979 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Libyan Signs From Southeastern Kentucky Curious images and writings turn up with surprising frequency in North America. The sculpture illustrated was among several found in a cave on the Virginia-Kentucky border. Made life-sized from hard sandstone, it bears curious symbols on its back. Quite obviously, it is the head of an Indian chief, but the symbols might be Libyan, according to Barry Fell. He translates them as: "luminous, radiant, sun-like." Interestingly enough, the ancient leaders of the Natchez Tribe were called "Suns" and wore feathered headdresses like those of the Plains Indians. Further, the Natchez Suns apparently maintained that their ancestors came to North America from North Africa -- thus the Libyan symbols! (Calhoun, Vernon J.; "Libyan Evidence in Southeast Kentucky," Epigraphic Society, Occasional Publications, 7:127, 1978.) Comment. Much controversy swirls about such symbols and their proposed translations. From Science Frontiers #8 , Fall 1979 . 1979-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 126: Nov-Dec 1999 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Knismesis And Gargalesis This item is not as serious as its pretentious title. Everyone has experienced both of these ominous-sounding physiological conditions. One can inflict knismesis upon one's self, but gargalesis requires someone else or perhaps a human-like robot (android) to perform the act. All right, so knismesis and gargalesis are really only the two recognized kinds of tickling; but the latter form stimulates several interesting physiological conundrums. First, let's separate the two conditions. Knismesis is very light stimulation of the skin, say by a feather. It rarely produces laughter and can be induced autonomously, by someone else, by a crawling insect, or even by mild electricity. Gargalesis cannot be selfinduced. It consists of heavier pressures applied to specific parts of the body, especially the ribs and arm pits. But the finger probing usually has to be done by someone else. Gargalesis is often very unpleasant but is nevertheless likely to be accompanied by smiles and laughter. In fact, gargalesis can be so disturbing that medieval torturers supposedly tickled some of their victims to death! (A variant of Chinese water torture?) Ticklish areas on the human body. Tickling becomes anomalous only with gargalesis. The questions are: Why does this kind of tickling elicit laughter when it is so unpleasant? Why cannot one tickle one's self this way? At least most people can't . Why does gargalesis exist ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 141: May-Jun 2002 Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues Last Issue Next Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Contents Archaeology An Ice-Age North Atlantic voyage? Somehow bananas slipped into West Africa 2,500 years ago Ancient messages on the Shroud of Turin Astronomy Europa's anomalous infrared spectrum Are the cosmic carriers of life comets or meteorites? Biology 'Modern' feathers on a non-avian dinosaur The intelligence of plants Unexplained weight-gain transient at the moment of death Geology Flank collapses: Generators of giant tsunamis Ragnarok: The Age of Fire and Gravel Geophysics Ball lightning gets some scientific respect Unknown species puts on spectacular light show Psychology Why music? Physics Falling in a quantized way Unclassified Where are those aliens? ...
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... the reaction rates are slow, but the size of the cosmic pond is vastly greater than any terrestrial puddle. The above quotation is from V.I . Goldanskii who, even before Hoyle, suggested a cold prehistory of life, during which complex organic molecules were synthesized at just a few degrees above absolute zero. His article dwells primarily on the physics of the tunnelling phenomenon, which is well verified in the laboratory, but he does not shrink from the biological implications. (Goldanskii, Vitalii I.; "Quantum Chemical Reactions in the Deep Cold," Scientific American, 254:46, February 1986.) Comment. In the first few paragraphs you can almost hear the theme music from the movie 2001. Evolutionists sometimes get carried away in inventing protobirds. This specimin was developing feathers on its forelimbs to help catch insects. The illustration comes from Evolution: A Theory in Crisis, by M. Denton. It is published in England, and we are trying to get copies. From Science Frontiers #44, MAR-APR 1986 . 1986-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... modelled and tested for their thermoregulatory and flight values. Surprisingly, there was a sharp transition, as the size of the protowing increased, from good thermoregulation but poor flight capability to the reverse -- good flight capability and poor thermoregulation. In other words, a structure developed for one purpose, if enlarged, might be useful for something else! (Gould, Stephen Jay; "Not Necessarily a Wing," Natural History, 94:14, October 1985. See also: Lewin, Roger, "How Does Half a Bird Fly?" Science, 230:530, 1985.) Comment. The work of Kingsolver and Koehl, though doubtless of high quality, does not come to grips with the fact that a wing for flight is a highly sophisticated combination of skeleton, feathers, membrane, muscles, nervous system, control system, aerodynamic design, etc. -- most of which have nothing to do with thermoregulation. Are the flying crustaceans mentioned on page ** a failed evolutionary attempt at useful flight? And where did their feathery appendages come from? Somewhere we -- all of us -- are missing something! From Science Frontiers #44, MAR-APR 1986 . 1986-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... Weirda of Rock Hall, Maryland. was watching her hummingbird feeder when she noticed a large praying mantis sitting on top of it. As the hummingbirds approached, it appeared as if the praying mantis was actually stalking them. This continued all day, but the hummingbirds safely eluded the clutches of the praying mantis. When the praying mantis was still on top of the hummingbird feeder the next day, Mrs. Weirda decided to capture the unusual activity on film. She quickly set up her camera and waited. As fate would have it. the praying mantis' persistence paid off. The unexpected did happen, and Mrs. Weirda captured the humming-bird's struggle on film. The amazing thing about this strange event is that the praying mantis consumed the entire hummingbird. Only a few feathers were left as witness to the struggle." (Anonymous; "' Insect Tiger' Strikes Hummingbird," Wild Bird News, no. 5, September/October 1994.) From Science Frontiers #97, JAN-FEB 1995 . 1995-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 85: Jan-Feb 1993 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects When a bird in the hand is worse than two in the bush When J. Dumbacher, an ornithologist working in Papua New Guinea, scratched his hand while freeing a hooded pitohui from a collecting net, his first instinct was to suck the wound. This was a bad move, for he immediately experienced a numbing and burning in his mouth. The reason for this, it turned out, was because the skin and feathers of pitohuis are loaded with homobatrachotoxin, a type of poison. This discovery makes the pitohuis the first known poisonous birds. Like many other poisonous animals, the pitohuis also emit a foul odor and advertise their unsavory nature with bright colors. (Dumbacher, John P., et al; "Homobatrachotoxin in the Genus Pitohui : Chemical Defense in Birds?" Science, 258:799, 1992. Also: Anonymous; "Bird with a Sting in Its Tail," New Scientist, p. 10, October 31, 1992.) Comment. As we see from the diagram, homobatrachotoxin possesses a rather complex chemical structure. One wonders how the pitohuis acquired the ability to synthesize it through random mutations. The puzzle deepens when one discovers that homobatrachotoxin is also manufactured by the New World poisondart frogs. Although far-separated taxonomically, both species traveled along the same path of random mutations to achieve this evolutionary convergence. From Science Frontiers #85, JAN-FEB 1993 . 1993-2000 William ...
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... Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Hopeful monsters rather than gradual evolution?S. J. Gould, who conducts a monthly column in Natural History reviews the sad history of Goldschmidt and his villification by the scientific establishment. Goldschmidt saw the fossil record as woefully inadequate to justify the assumption of gradual evolution of one form into another. Intermediate forms between separate species do not seem to exist in the fossil record and, if they did, they would probably not have been viable creatures. What good is half a wing? Gould believes that Goldschmidt's "hopeful monster" concept will ultimately be dusted off. The key to "macromutation," Gould feels, is not to be found in major gene reorganizations that might produce a whole wing, feathers included, all at once, but rather in changes in the genes that control the development of embryos. Embryos in their early stages are pretty much alike regardless of species. Gould hopes further that the ruling neo-Darwinians will not be so hostile to new ideas and eventually acknowledge Goldschmidt's important work. (Gould, Stephen J; "The Return of the Hopeful Monster," Natural History, 86: 22, June-July, 1977.) From Science Frontiers #2 , January 1978 . 1978-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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