Natural Science Forum / Biology / Evolution / February 2006

Gday, I'm not here to flame, just after some non-'Intelligent Design'
answers/reasoning (but yes I am a Christian)
Wondering what  is the evolutionary basis behind:
1)    Sexual reproduction (as opposed to asexual)

OOL - Replication alone leads to Spiegelman monsters.
Instead we should be asking what are we replicating?
Metabolism alone demands some forced energy to start it up.
For clues to the origin I suggest this question:

The articulation of unsolved problems has proven to be a great stimulus to
focusing researchers' attention in other fields.  I wonder what you think
are the greatest unsolved problems in evolutionary biology?

evolution should satisfy some sort of minimization principal (e.g.
energy minimization). Has anybody ever come across such a principal?

1.  Are there any species in which the haploid sex is female?
2.  Are there any species in which adult haploid males mate with
    multiple female partners?
3.  Is there any evidence that haploid males are 'choosy' about

Here is Gunter Wachtershauser's 'Pop and Adapt' OOL scenario.
He first pops up metabolism which 'runs on its own' until it can adapt.
It has the same failings as all Pop and Adapt scenarios
(Pops out of nothing, no regard for the environment, has a magic cloak

Those interested in possible functions for at least some junk
and those interested in alternative splicing will probably
find much of interest here.  Available free online with
registration.  I, unfortunately, haven't read it yet, since

I have been on the hunt for large exact numbers in biology.  The largest one
I have found is the 1,031 cells that are supposedly found in _every_ male C.
elegans.   I double checked and found that this number is prime.
In sci.math I asked if anyone else had any large numbers from ...

Science 17 February 2006:
Vol. 311. no. 5763, pp. 960 - 961
Perspectives
EVOLUTION:

Dear S.B.E. Readers:
Obviously most on s.b.e. aren't scientists. However, somebody who was
aware of that took it upon themselves to email me spam-scam. It's
offensive because it mocks my intelligence. Furthermore, it is

Biospace Beat
Ancient Mystery Solved - Dry Earwax Boosts Sex Appeal
A GENETIC study of more than 3000 people worldwide has solved one of
life's mysteries: why some people have dry earwax while others exude a

"Perplexed in Peoria" jimmenegay@sbcglobal.net wrote:-

Posted on Wed, Dec. 07, 2005
Monkeys show gender differences in toy preferences, research findsBY
ROBERT S. BOYDKnight Ridder NewspapersWASHINGTON - Just like human boys
and girls, male monkeys like to play with toy cars while female monkeys

I would suppose that humans take more than a  decade and a half to develop
because our brain needs that long to become the powerful organ it is.  Is
there anthropological evidence that developing slower means being protected