Evolution
perhaps to an extreme where certain body plans or even intelligent life are ‘ inevitable ’ , 29 as only limited or even singular solutions exist to the challenges posed by an organism’s specific environment. In the case of some species, this is a convincing case. However, for conscious, intelligent life our sample size remains at 1, namely humans, making this a tantalizing but untestable hypothesis. Other than the Cambrian, apparent ‘jumps’ in evolution at odds with natural selection might be explained by the repurposing of adaptations. The problem of ‘what use is half a wing?’, to paraphrase, has been around almost since Darwin’s time: half a wing ca nnot generate flight, so allows no survival advantage. 30 Therefore, how can it or any other early, hypothetical stage in the evolution of a wing be selected for in order for evolution to occur? By using existing genetic pathways and adaptations for purposes other than that for which they evolved – such as the horns of some beetles, which were repurposed from previously existing, wing-like structures 31 which originally had different uses. These adaptations therefore can gradually evolve as they are selected for, before, as a serendipitous byproduct of evolution, being used for another function, avoiding the necessity for half-formed evolutionary intermediates or inexplicable ‘jumps’. Even the power of speech or music 32 are suggested to be byproducts of the evolution of adaptations subsequently repurposed; therefore, it is through the combined effect of natural selection, its related processes such as epigenetics, vast amounts of time and potentially even chance circumstance which have lead not only to the diversity of ‘ weird wonders ’ in the tree of life, but to ourselves and our unique ability to speak, play music which asks ‘ Who made me here, and why? ’ , and ultimately discover the very evolutionary processes which did so.
Bibliography
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(1998) The Crucible of Creation: The Burgess Shale and the Rise of Animals. Oxford (2022) From Extraterrestrials to Animal Minds: Six Myths of Evolution. Conshohocken
29 Conway Morris 2022. 30 Mivart, 1871. 31 Hu et al. 2019. 32 Chomsky 1986; Pinker 2009.
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