Realitycheck Posted August 4, 2007 Share Posted August 4, 2007 I have always had a hard time seeing how eukaryotes could evolve into brontosaurs over a mere 400 million years. So I did some math. So we have eukaryotes at 600 mya. Let's say that the eukaryotes at the end of the Pre-Cambrian were really big clumps of cells. What they did all day, every day is really beyond me. Now, let's say that the first .1" long micro eel evolves from a Pre-Cambrian eukaryote over about, say, 50 million years. Now, let's say that it takes 3 million years for an eel to evolve into a larger eel by 50%, using information from this article. It would take one species in the tropics 3 to 4 million years to evolve into two distinct species, whereas at 60 degrees latitude, it could take as little as one million years," Weir said. http://www.livescience.com/animals/070315_tropics_evo.html Now, if we do the math and extrapolate this 50% growth every 3 million years to the middle of the dinosaurs' reign, we get an eel that is 421,474,090,219,504 miles long! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
foodchain Posted August 4, 2007 Share Posted August 4, 2007 I have always had a hard time seeing how eukaryotes could evolve into brontosaurs over a mere 400 million years. So I did some math. So we have eukaryotes at 600 mya. Let's say that the eukaryotes at the end of the Pre-Cambrian were really big clumps of cells. What they did all day, every day is really beyond me. Now, let's say that the first .1" long micro eel evolves from a Pre-Cambrian eukaryote over about, say, 50 million years. Now, let's say that it takes 3 million years for an eel to evolve into a larger eel by 50%, using information from this article. Now, if we do the math and extrapolate this 50% growth every 3 million years to the middle of the dinosaurs' reign, we get an eel that is 421,474,090,219,504 miles long! yes, but I imagine that such a thing might face some selective pressures, plus its math. I could probably develop some algorithm that states Godzilla should exist by now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CDarwin Posted August 4, 2007 Share Posted August 4, 2007 I have always had a hard time seeing how eukaryotes could evolve into brontosaurs over a mere 400 million years. So I did some math. So we have eukaryotes at 600 mya. Let's say that the eukaryotes at the end of the Pre-Cambrian were really big clumps of cells. What they did all day, every day is really beyond me. Now, let's say that the first .1" long micro eel evolves from a Pre-Cambrian eukaryote over about, say, 50 million years. Now, let's say that it takes 3 million years for an eel to evolve into a larger eel by 50%, using information from this article. Now, if we do the math and extrapolate this 50% growth every 3 million years to the middle of the dinosaurs' reign, we get an eel that is 421,474,090,219,504 miles long! At the end of the Pre-Cambrian there were already jellyfish swimming around, and probably the soft bodied ancestors of many of the phyla we first find hard-shelled in the Cambrian. And evolution doesn't really work by simply increasing scale over time... But I guess I see what you're trying to do. It's interesting to have a demonstration how much change can plausibly take place over the vast stretches of time evolution has had to work in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sayonara Posted August 4, 2007 Share Posted August 4, 2007 The eel is such a potent illustration of how the timescale affects matters that I feel it should be named. Ideally its name should be magnificent yet comical. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mag Posted August 4, 2007 Share Posted August 4, 2007 I could probably develop some algorithm that states Godzilla should exist by now. wel... get to it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
foodchain Posted August 4, 2007 Share Posted August 4, 2007 wel... get to it! Its just a point. Its like that topology question in which you can keep dividing to infinity and so on, or where you do a math problem involving an area of grass that shows a person did infinite work mowing the lawn. Math is better suited being molding to reality rather then vice versa. Plus I am still using my calc mainly in attempts to draw pretty pictures with the graphing function. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mag Posted August 4, 2007 Share Posted August 4, 2007 Its just a point. Its like that topology question in which you can keep dividing to infinity and so on, or where you do a math problem involving an area of grass that shows a person did infinite work mowing the lawn. Math is better suited being molding to reality rather then vice versa. Plus I am still using my calc mainly in attempts to draw pretty pictures with the graphing function. haha alright. I'll let it slide this time Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paralith Posted August 5, 2007 Share Posted August 5, 2007 The Endlessly Evolving Eel! Sorry. Couldn't resist. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lucaspa Posted August 9, 2007 Share Posted August 9, 2007 I have always had a hard time seeing how eukaryotes could evolve into brontosaurs over a mere 400 million years. So I did some math. You might be interested in this calculation by Stebbins on evolution: "Take a hypothetical population of animals with the average weight of 40 grams about the size of a mouse. Then assume that generation by generation, the members of the population increase in size at a mean rate of 1/10th of 1 percent of the mean weight at any generation. This rate is so slow, relative to differences in weight between individuals belonging to any particular generation, that the difference between the means of two successive generations could not be calculated because of sampling errors and because slight differences in nutrition affect non-hereditary differences in weight. Indeed, this change would be almost unmeasurable over a human life span. Nevertheless, an increase at this almost imperceptible rate over 12000 generations would produce a population having a mean weight of 6,457,400 grams, which is about the size of a large elephant. If the mean duration of a single generation were about five years, which is much longer than that of a mouse, but shorter than that of the elephant, the elapsed time required for this tremendous increase in size would be 60,000 yrs." Let's say that the eukaryotes at the end of the Pre-Cambrian were really big clumps of cells. What they did all day, every day is really beyond me. Look up "volvox", that will give you a good picture. What you are seeing is that evolution is cumulative. Small individual changes accumulate over generations and the result are huge changes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sisyphus Posted August 9, 2007 Share Posted August 9, 2007 The Endlessly Evolving Eel! Sorry. Couldn't resist. What about Exponentially Expanding Eel? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paralith Posted August 9, 2007 Share Posted August 9, 2007 What about Exponentially Expanding Eel? Or better yet, the Exponentially Elongating Eel. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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