Natural Science Forum / Biology / Evolution / June 2007

Ctenophorians and cnidarians are two separate phyla of biblastic
animals, meaning that they have an early embryo with only two cell
layers. Ctenophora include sea combs, while cnidarians include  the
jellyfish, hydra, corals, and sea anenomes. They are supposed to be

As near as I can tell from the Tolweb page:
Hagfish (just barely) have skulls made of cartlidge, but no vertebrae.
Tolweb puts them as the sister group to vertebrates.
Lamphreys are classed as vertebrates but do they actually have vertebrae?

I recently met a rather unimpressive doctor who told me that he
prescribes antibiotics for any of his patients who ask for them.
He said he knows that in many cases the drugs will do no good,
but they do no harm and if the patient wants them, he aims to

Dramatic report of findings regarding junk DNA:
"Encyclopedia Of DNA: New Findings Challenge Established Views On Human
Genome
Science Daily — An international research consortium just published a

This study seems to support my ideas on UV and its
importance as a driving force in the origin. Comment?
Directed exospermia: I. Biological modes
of resistance to UV light are implied

One of the main arguments put forth by Darwin is based on the
similarity between the Patagonian fauna and the African one (e.g. rhea
= ostrich, puma = lion, jaguar = leopard, guanaco = camel, etc.). The
genetic kinship between these species is all the more compelling in

Scientists propose the kind of chemistry that led to life
Before life emerged on earth, either a primitive kind of metabolism or an
RNA-like duplicating machinery must have set the stage - so experts believe.
But what preceded these pre-life steps?

Patent sought on 'synthetic life'
Scientists working to build a life form from scratch have applied to patent
the broad method they plan to use to create their "synthetic organism".
Dr Craig Venter, the man who led the private sector effort to sequence the

There has been many documentaries about animal on PBS, discovery, etc.
Are there any videos about plant evolution, and how primitive cells evolved
into plant and animal cells?

"The common denominator (of altered states of consciousness) often
seems to be either sensory isolation, or sensory overload."
3 Pound Universerve, Hooper and Teresi.
This quote and other ideas from this and other books,

There have been a number of discussions on the NG, not to mention an article
by Gould, on why some male mammals have nipples. My wife recently raised
the question  of why no male mammals have functional nipples. Why aren't
there any male breast feeders?

ATPases are a class of enzymes that catalyze the decomposition of
adenosine
triphosphate (ATP) into adenosine diphosphate (ADP) and a free
phosphate

Many suggest that when hominids became bipedal, this led
to increased intelligence because the free hands could now
use tools.
That may be part of the story, but I think more important is the