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Spider: Newly defensive “evolution” rhetoric?

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Trap Jaw Spider
Mecysmaucheniid spider/Eurekalert, Hannah Wood

From a featurette on a New Zealand spider with really fast jaws at Mashable:

The spiders are only found in New Zealand and southern parts of South America, with the quickest of the 14 species of trap-jaw spider closing their jaw more than 100 times faster than the slowest.

Not only are some of these trap-jaw spiders fast, four of the spiders boast a power output exceeding the known capacity of their muscles.

It’s a finding which shows that a spider’s movements aren’t necessarily powered by their tiny muscles, according to the statement, but have perhaps developed structural mechanisms in their bodies which allow the storing of energy — thanks to evolution. More.

Huh? What’s “thanks to evolution” doing in that last sentence? It has about the same effect (and probably serves the same general purpose as) “thanks to the heroic efforts of the Glorious Revolutionary Party.”

The skinny: This spider’s bite is powered by an unknown structural mechanism, and Johnny Lieu at Mashable needs us all to know that, whatever it is, “evolution” done it.

Which means what exactly? If the likelihood of a randomly successful development is virtually nil, is “evolution” another word for magic? Why can’t we just say we don’t know?

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Comments
It's amazing how that adaptation came along just when needed most.Mung
April 8, 2016
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"thanks to evolution" in their religion is equivalent to saying "thanks be to God" in my religion. You're not ridiculing our religious beliefs are you?awstar
April 8, 2016
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