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Darwins 150 yr old prediction finally comes true

published by eric3579

2 weeks 4 days ago • 1932 views

tags: Comet Orchid, moth

Comments

Prophecy is a lost art.

However the predictive power of science never will be.

written by Raigen

| 2 weeks 5 days ago | CH

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thrilling!

written by gargoyle | 2 weeks 4 days ago | CH

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LOL I originally dreamed of being a some sort of ecologist or scientist until I found out how tough you gotta be mentally and physically lol

6 months in a mosquito filled tropics without a decent shower or a bed, just to record some gerbil's nightly mating rituals. I admit it, I'm way too soft and pampered to be able to endure such things.

written by legacy0100

| 2 weeks 4 days ago | CH

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Heh, anyone else remember Christopher Plummer's character in the film, "Adaptation," talking about this discovery in the film?

written by Trancecoach

| 2 weeks 4 days ago | CH

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Darwin was WRONG! The bearded burlap sack wearing magic-man comes down from cloud-in-the-sky la-la-land and uses his 12" tongue to get at the nectar. It is obvious is it not?

written by honkeytonk73

| 2 weeks 4 days ago | CH

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Hail the Gene Simmons moth!!!

written by rottenseed

| 2 weeks 3 days ago | CH

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Food for thought from PZ Myers, with a healthy dose of criticism and contextual information.

Specifically, the interesting point to be made is that Darwin didn't simply predict that the length of the insect tongues would MATCH the orchid tubes, but rather that the orchids would be selected for longer tubes each generation (because the insects, now with slightly shorter tubes, would be forced to press up against the flower to get the nectar and thus would receive pollen all over their bodies that would then be spread by the insects), and the insects would be selected for longer tongues in order to reach across the ever-increasing distance.

It's somewhat of an arms race, in that the orchids benefit by the insects having to struggle to reach the nectar, and the insects benefit by having longer proboscises to not have to struggle to reach the nectar, leading to the development of very long tubes and tongues.

written by rembar

| 2 weeks 3 days ago | CH

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I don't get what you're saying there rembar. Seems like faulty logic to me, or you've left a line out or something.

edit: no wait I've figured it out. Makes sense now. Sorry I doubted you.

written by Fade | 2 weeks 3 days ago | CH

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Moth comes in low, out of the rising sun, about a mile out, turns on the tongue music.

written by sl666

| 2 weeks 3 days ago | CH

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This video explains why I have a huge weiner.

written by DrPawn

| 2 weeks 3 days ago | CH

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inconceivable!
You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.

written by jwray

| 2 weeks 3 days ago | CH

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>> ^rembar:
Food for thought from PZ Myers, with a healthy dose of criticism and contextual information.

Specifically, the interesting point to be made is that Darwin didn't simply predict that the length of the insect tongues would MATCH the orchid tubes, but rather that the orchids would be selected for longer tubes each generation (because the insects, now with slightly shorter tubes, would be forced to press up against the flower to get the nectar and thus would receive pollen all over their bodies that would then be spread by the insects), and the insects would be selected for longer tongues in order to reach across the ever-increasing distance.

It's somewhat of an arms race, in that the orchids benefit by the insects having to struggle to reach the nectar, and the insects benefit by having longer proboscises to not have to struggle to reach the nectar, leading to the development of very long tubes and tongues.

This arms race is termed the Red Queen effect after the race the eponymous character in Through the Looking Glass holds in which "it takes all the running you can do to keep in the same place." God, I love evolutionary science/scientists (you see what I did there, with the God and the evolution? funny stuff, huh?)

written by RhesusMonk

| 2 weeks 3 days ago | CH

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Very cool. Where's the eia tag? harhar

written by bigbikeman

| 2 weeks 2 days ago | CH

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>> ^Trancecoach:
Heh, anyone else remember Christopher Plummer's character in the film, "Adaptation," talking about this discovery in the film?

No, I don't remember Christopher Plummer having a character in Adaptation.

written by mkknyr

| 2 weeks 2 days ago | CH

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And that truly was a beautiful piece of nature in action he recorded. It looks like it was in slow-mo, yes?

Also, it seemed a bit put on that the scientist had to sit around in the jungle getting mosquito bites all night long rather than just pressing record, or at least putting up a mosquito net.

written by Pooterius

| 2 weeks 2 days ago | CH

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