Yesterday, scientists would've said that people who believe in flying frogs are pseudoscientists. Today, it's not so clear what they would say.
Science Daily: Hundreds Of New Species Discovered In Eastern Himalayas.
ScienceDaily (Aug. 11, 2009) — Over 350 new species including the world’s smallest deer, a “flying frog” and a 100 million-year old gecko have been discovered in the Eastern Himalayas, a biological treasure trove now threatened by climate change.Climate change is an euphamism for catastrophism.
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14 comments:
Actually, evolution takes so many paths lineages, that it often works in VERY unusual ways, so those "Cryptids" you keep mentioning aren't even "Cryptid." Believe me, OiM, I should know I talk with experts as well as do Plenty of research, I KNOW what Cryptozoology is!
I also disagree that Climate Change is a Euphemism for Catastrophism. The basics of Natural Selection indicates that animals develop certain traits that allow the indvidual to reproduce, perpetuate it's species and succeed in the changed environment that the others lacking the trait would not survive as well. See what I'm saying?
Scientists do not believe that fauna exist until after they are observed by white people who believe in gravitation and evolution. E.g. Coelacanth and Okapi.
I believe that climate change is catastrophism.
Uniformitarians believe that the climate never changes.
A "flying" frog is a frog that has the ability to glide. That is, it can descend at an angle of less than 45° relative to the horizontal. Arboreal frogs (non-flying frogs) can also descend vertically, but only at angles greater than 45°, which is referred to as parachuting[1]. Flying frogs have evolved independently among 3,400 species of frogs[2] from both New World (Hyla) and Old World (Rhacophoridae) families[1] and their evolution is seen as an adaptation to their life in trees, high above the ground.
Characteristics of the Old World species include "enlarged hands and feet, full webbing between all fingers and toes, lateral skin flaps on the arms and legs, and reduced weight per snout-vent length"[2]. These morphological changes contribute to the flying frog's aerodynamic abilities.
Alfred Russel Wallace made one of the earliest reports of the flying frog, from observations in the Indo-Malayan region [3]. The species he observed was later termed Wallace's Flying Frog (Rhacophorus nigropalmatus). They have suction pads on their webbed feet which helps their balance in the high trees that they live in.
It is virtually certain that the locals knew about these animals, but Western science is humbled before this find. It's very possible that what the West thinks of as a "new flying frog" was just one more "frog" to the locals.
"These exciting finds reinforce just how little we [k]now about the world around us. In the Eastern Himalayas we have a region of extraordinary beauty and with some of the most biologically rich areas on the planet. Ironically, it is also one of the regions most at risk from climate change, as evidenced by the rapid retreat of the glaciers, and only time will tell how well species will be able to adapt – if at all."
-Mark Wright, WWF Science Advisor
Uniformitarians believe that the climate never changes.
Who are these folks? Republicans? I do not know of anyone who disputes some sort of climate change on some scale.
Uniformitarians. I don't know any Republicans who are uniformitarians. Republicans are catastrophists.
Uniformitarians. I don't know any Republicans who are uniformitarians. Republicans are catastrophists.
Name a uniformitarian, please.
Avicenna, James Hutton, John Playfair, Charles Lyell, Richard Dawkins, etc.
See Retardipedia for lack of details.
Arguing is futile.
QF,
It's futile if your goal is to convert the unbelievers. It's not futile if your goal is to learn.
Richard Dawkins is not a uniformitarian of the type you describe. I have explained this to you before. Is comprehension so hard?
"You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means."
--Inigo Montoya
Random Thoughts
Going to Gen Con tomorrow. It will be a healthy dose of critical thinking after weeks around this site.
I made awesome ribs last night. I did not want to share, but I had to feed the family.
Spielberg's AI is the best science fiction movie ever made.
Jeffery,
It's clear that you don't know what the difference between uniformitarianism and catastrophism is.
So much good sci-fi: Star Wars, Stalker, Blade Runner, Stargate, and now District 9.
Best fiction movie with no science in it would be either The Road Warrior, Root of All Evil, or A Brief History of Time.
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