Evolution, Morphology and Exobiology

If life off Earth is discovered, what evidence would science require to prove that the life does not share a common ancestor with life on Earth? In other words, how could science prove that this newly discovered life resulted from a different "genesis" than life on Earth? A different genetic code? A non-carbon molecular base? A different DNA structure? Thanks for your thoughts!

I understand the very basic concepts on innate and learned behavior but I would like to learn a little bit more about Fixed Action Patterns and Imprinting. And, does it have to do with any type of classical or operant conditioning??? If so, please explain...

Dear All , A very Happy Darwin Day to all.On this day I would like all of you to introduce with the fascinating world of Darwinian or Evolutionary Medicine. Evolutionary Medicine is all about understanding the evolutionary origin of diseases , understanding the selection forces that have shaped those traits.The field is emerging like anything and due to the constant efforts of the founders evolution will soon be part of Medical Curriculum in USA.I would like to share my brief write up on Evolutionary Medicine with you all : INTRODUCTION: Darwinian Medicine which is the synthesis of two different disciplines of Evolutionary Biology and Medicine is emer…

I know that genetic mutations are a major part in allowing the next generation to continue on because in order for there to be the "choice" of an offspring that can be fit for a certain environment there must be multiple "choices" available for that species to live on. However, I assume there must be a particular amount of offspring to allow the needed gene to move onto the next generation. I also assume that there is a required amount of that particular species(parents) to allow the probabilities to allow that particular offspring to be born and carry on with the gene. If all my assumptions are correct, and correct them if they are wrong, is there an equation to dete…

How do habitats and niches and fall under the category of ecology? What is the broader spectrumof ecology??

Hello, I've been thinking about these a lot. I was born and grown up in Asia. I moved to USA less than 5 years. And I ve been notive something here. People here have allergy with weather. Even many Asian moved here, they did not have it at the beginning, but after a while living here, they have it every time weather has change. If based on evolution theory then after a while living in same environment, they should develop ability to get adapted to the environment ? Why they did not ? People in US has allergy to many diff kind of food. I am really wonder why it happens. Some people have it since their birth, some just develop it during lifetime. That mean, you …

http://cosmicvariance.com/2005/08/23/171/ (It's evidence of a higher think tank.)

are there any species on earth that would survive in an ammonia, chlorine or SO2 atmosphere that could be a “template” for biology on other planets?

recently i read a book called rise of prehistoric vertebrates.. can any one tell me names of some tertiary predatory birds other than Diatryma and Gastronis.. (my spell may be inncorrect ) . were there any other large dino-like birds comparable to diatryma in tertiary or quaternary worlds?

I finally have to admit that we are beings of excited atoms via chemical reactions. Microbes are the most experienced biochemists on the planet, although they are not aware of it or even us for that matter. Yet our origin is apparently a fusion event between archaea and eubacteria and later mitochondria that all together made eukaryotes without any directed purpose. Eukaryotes are actually a larger bacterial species since we are made of them, shouldn't we finally admit it to ourselves? We are apparently built from the inside out with genes that automatically were programmed to manufacture engineered proteins and was able to place all of our body parts and its syste…

So far, there have been a total of three threads in the Biology forum for biology links, and none of them have worked out. I think the problem is that Biology covers too many topics, and threads like that need to be more in depth. Which is why I have created this thread... The Official Evolution Links Thread Here you can post your links to websites about evolution to support, disprove and comment on The Theory of Evolution. Please don't make this thread another creationist vs. darwinist argument because that's not what this thread is for. Mine: http://andabien.com/html/words/evolution-px.htm <====Evolution Timeline http://www.livescience.com/animalworld/ …

does anyone know how African frogs can change genders and how they evolved this way?

What is the differentiation of microbial life from say primarily relying on say geologic activity rather then biological activity? Does this occur at some point in time possibly from selection pressures, and if this exists does it fall in the timeline in which maybe eukaryotes or multicellular life was possibly starting to come about? Can any major metabolic pathways show any proof?

Why are a lot of reproductive organs are oval shaped Eggs in birds testes in male animals sperm head also in male animals Ovaries in female ones Seeds in plants where has this pattern came from ?

Although I don't see why anyone would really suspect otherwise... http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/4729050.stm

As I understand, the underlying mechanism of the formation of new genes must first consist of a gene duplication event. This results in one gene constrained to its original function whereas the other gene is removed from the pressure of selection thereby allowing it to drift/be selected for change either to produce a specialised but similar function or a entirely new function. Where often this is followed by exon shuffling. I understand this at a protein level. New kinases for instance or the evolution of haemoglobin. However, when trying to apply this idea to the macro view of evolution, confusion arrises. Take the evolution of the mammalian ear bones. These originall…

Here is an interesting article from the University of Maine website. It is about a reasearcher from Maine studying gene flow and microevolution in Trinidad. The subjects of his studies are guppies, small fish that live in the rivers. Apparently they show varyation among seperate populations. The guppies near areas with high numbers of preadators are all light colors, but ones further up the river and above the waterfalls, where predidation is light, are brighter colors. The article seems to indicate that microevolution can bring about large changes bringing about new speciation faster than normal. http://www.umaine.edu/features/archive/v11/evolving.htm

I'm having a debate with someone, and something my opponent stated struck me as flat wrong, but I'm unsure how to respond. His statement was: 'For all mammalian species, females have less testosterone than males.' Hyenas are an obvious exception to this universalising statement which I will bring up in due course, but I can't think of any other species. Are there any other species of mammal in which the females exhibit higher levels of testosterone than males? I need more than just a single 'exception' to his claim. Thanks! --Derelitto

Friday, October 16 What Is Evolution and Why Does It Matter? by James Krupa, Department of Biology, University of Kentucky (Center Theater, University of Kentucky Student Center) Monday, October 19 Evolution in America: A Short History of the First 150 Years by Barry Werth, author of Banquet at Delmonico’s: Great Minds, the Gilded Age, & the Triumph of Evolution in America (Center Theater, University of Kentucky Student Center) Tuesday, October 20 Darwin in Wonderland: Evolution and the Science of Story by Jonathan Gottschall, Department of English, Washington and Jefferson College & author of The Rape of Troy: Evolution, Violence, and the World of…

Hi folks. I have a specific application in microbiology that I am investigating. I found this forum so I joined so that I could put it forward. Hopefully someone has some insight. I'm looking for a way to separate filial generations in a microbiological propagation environment. I'm searching for a way to follow the maximum F(x) through isolation and propagation. The issue is a bit fuzzy. Bacterial (or Fungi) generations result from division. Daughter cells are obviously children, but are in the same culture media as the parent cell. I need to have a way of separating those. It's been some time since I've studied lab techniques and thought there migh…

I'm new around here and was trying to figure out which thread to start the plunge. I decided this one might be interesting, since it is related to a concept I play around with from time to time. My background is mostly tied to space-related activities, such as launch, human migration through space, planetary geology, etc. I'm also very interested in "big history" and futurism, and like to find ways to tie the past through the present into the future. The link below is to a Geological Time Scale I developed. The link below that is a little introduction to what in the world I'm talking about. Maybe it makes sense, maybe not. It's still an idea in the works... h…

Is it possible to grow functional arms on dolphins using genetic engineering, so they can create tools and manipulate there environment?

Well, in my typical aloof ruminations I was thinking about expressions we teach parrots and other birds which can mimic human speech, and I was thinking about the birds who were able to pick up these phrases as they waited to be bought in a pet store. I mean, clearly these birds get enough exposure to the same phrases over and over that they are able to learn them. You know, the ones like "Polly wanna cracker?" and "Pretty bird." They're memes which are successful because they're a sort of universally agreed upon set of nonsense phrases between both humans and birds so that people repeat often enough for the birds to pick them up, and do so because they have so often h…