Buzz
This compilation does not seek to disprove evolution, natural selection, or any related theories. It does not advocate for intelligent design or any tenets of Creationism or similar ideologies. Instead, it focuses on questioning established principles or assumptions about evolution and presents examples of unanswered questions in the field.
9. The Inefficiency of Being Bicellular
At some stage in the evolution of life forms, the transition to multi-cellular organisms became unavoidable. However, the issue with this idea is that bi-cellular organisms are not well suited for reproduction and therefore face a greater challenge in maintaining their genetic lineage. The limited surface area hinders their ability to perform osmosis compared to their unicellular counterparts (especially when the two cells are conjoined through abnormal reproduction from a single-celled parent), the resources needed for movement are more substantial, and specialization has not yet emerged.
This raises significant challenges for Margulis’s Theory, which is the leading explanation for how complex cells evolved through a process where distinct organisms merged into the cell structure. For example, how could two mitochondria with identical DNA enter two separate but connected cells, or how could one serve both in such a way that it ensures viable descendants? It’s worth noting that bicellular organisms are rare today, suggesting that if this type of bodily design offers any advantage, it no longer seems relevant in nature.
8. Evolutionary Steps Often Involve Conflicting Goals
The development of certain traits through trial and error is often depicted as a gradual increase in beneficial mutations. For example, in The God Delusion, Richard Dawkins suggests that wings could have evolved step by step into partial wings, enabling animals to glide safely to the ground instead of falling fatally. Those with the mutation would survive to reproduce, passing the modification on.
The problem with this concept is its simplicity. Some traits required for a species to evolve a new ability cannot undergo partial mutations without introducing a survival disadvantage, rather than an advantage.
Take the archaeopteryx as an example, a transitional species between dinosaurs and birds. For it to gain the ability to fly like a bird, simply growing wings and transforming its scales was not enough. It also had to lose a significant amount of its bone marrow. So, contrary to Dawkins' suggestion that it would gain the ability to glide from trees instead of falling, the real issue is that it would develop anemia and/or Shwachman-Diamond syndrome in the generations before it could ever develop the ability to fly.
7. The Mystery of the Cicada Cycles
In 2013, the Eastern United States awaited the return of the cicada population en masse, as they did every seventeen years. What many didn’t realize was that this was an evolutionary puzzle that had perplexed scientists for years: how did cicadas evolve such a precise, long-lasting re-emergence pattern? Furthermore, as NBC reported in 2004, these creatures are poorly designed for survival and rely on a strategy called 'predator satiation,' where the overwhelming number of cicadas forces predators to fill up quickly, leaving the majority of the swarm to mate safely. This would have been ineffective during the species’ early evolution.
6. The Departure of Human Ancestors from Africa
Around 50,000 years ago (though the exact dates are still widely debated), human ancestors began to leave Africa, a journey that involved significant labor and risk with little obvious benefit, especially given that humans were already living at subsistence levels. The continent was not overpopulated, and migrating meant exposure to unfamiliar diseases, climates, predators, and other challenges. The more plausible reasons, such as potential climate change or disease outbreaks like malaria, wouldn’t influence the migration for another 40,000 years. So, what drove this decision?
5. Australopithecus Sediba as a Counterexample to the 'Missing Link'
In 2008, a fossil was discovered in South Africa that primarily serves to puzzle evolutionary biologists. It’s a blend of traits from both sides of the ape/hominid divide, raising questions about where exactly this divide should be placed. For instance, the fossil was noted to have feet resembling those of an ape, yet knees that were more human-like, suggesting an unusual walking pattern. As of 2013, the fossil was still under study, and it remains uncertain whether the creature is part of the human lineage or an unrelated, extinct species.
4. What Drove the Evolution of Whales?
It may surprise you to learn that the skeletal structure and ancestry of whales are more closely related to cows than to dolphins. This raises the more perplexing question of how and why an ancient land-dwelling creature with such bone structures made the decision to take to the water—and stay there. While there have been various candidates suggested for the common ancestor of both cows and whales, the reason this creature decided it was done with walking remains a mystery.
3. How Did Human Speech Evolve?
The question of how humans developed such advanced vocal communication has led evolutionary biologists down some unconventional paths. For instance, in 2012, Discovery magazine reported that chimpanzees' tendency to flap their jaws might have been a precursor, while also claiming that the true key to human speech and tone lies in the larynx. In 2013, it was noted that the gelada, an ape, produced a kind of gurgling howl that could have been significant, though the gelada is related to baboons, not humans. Researchers from MIT and Tokyo University suggested that imitating birdsong might have sparked this behavior, but the exact moment in human evolution when this occurred, like so much of our mysterious past, remains unclear.
2. What Prompted the Genetic Engineering of Corn?
In his book At Home, Bill Bryson highlights the intriguing fact that the history of corn, a plant responsible for 21% of the world's food supply, remains shrouded in mystery. Corn, as we know it today, was originally developed from teosinte in Mesoamerica—a plant that was nutritionally poor and not ideal for cultivation. The true parentage of corn was uncovered only in the 1930s through the work of Dr. George W. Beadle, and the reasons and methods behind transforming such a useless natural plant into a vital crop are still unclear.
1. The Evolution of the Human Female Orgasm
While this may sound like the beginning of a joke, the question of why human females experience orgasms has sparked intense debate within the scientific community for quite a while, with numerous theories competing for attention. Several primate species in the human lineage do not have orgasms, and even in humans, the clitoris is located in a way that makes penetration unnecessary for stimulation, and virility is not relevant. In fact, during the 1970s, it was widely believed that female orgasms were not an evolutionary necessity but rather a fortunate byproduct of the genders evolving together.
