

Evolution in Action: Lizard Moving from Eggs to Live Birth - lelf
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2010/09/100901-science-animals-evolution-australia-lizard-skink-live-birth-eggs/

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esaym
So the 'proof' is the skink is still a skink?

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pistle
Don't read the comments... Don't read the comments... Don't read the - aw
shit. Scroll scroll scroll away as fast as possible.

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p4bl0
Not all of the comments are bad. Yes there are some creationists who said
stupid things, but the comment by "Mike Merritt" actually raise a very
important point. I'll paste it here:

    
    
         k, I'm being pedantic, but it seems important.
    
         The following phrase is super confusing to people who don't get evolution:
         "For the skinks, moms in balmier climates may opt to conserve their own
         bodies' resources by depositing eggs on the ground for the final week or
         so of development. Moms in harsh mountain climates, by contrast, might
         find that it's more efficient to protect their young by keeping them
         longer inside their bodies."
    
         Surely you're being elliptical, but even throwing in a phrase like "in a
         sense" or better "in a metaphorical sense" would help things out here. But
         better to leave it out entirely. The skinks aren't "opting" for anything.
         They do what they do, and the consequences are life and death for
         themselves and their brood. Hence evolution. QED.

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trhway
>The skinks aren't "opting" for anything. They do what they do, and the
consequences are life and death for themselves and their brood. Hence
evolution.

usually it is true or very close to true. Yet it is very interesting question,
that is probably still open for these lizards, about "opting" in the sense of
how much biological flexibility a given one lizard has hardwired in - would
the same lizard respond differently to different conditions or would it behave
the same independently of the conditions. I.e. what balance they have between
adaptation and static fit strategies.

