A friend draws my attention to this lovely little item:
He asks, what about this ?
What you CAN see with small, easily observed creatures like Lenski’s E. coli is evolution in action – new features evolving through random mutation and natural selection. Regardless of what you wish to state about the malaria plasmodia, the best example of evolution in action is the Lenski experiments because he retains the entire record of every genetic event that leads to every change. Now, Lenski’s E. coli changed shape, changed size, changed metabolism and changed food source. How much more MACRO do you expect an organism to evolve?”
I replied:
So the claim is, “changed shape, changed size, changed metabolism and changed food source. How much more MACRO do you expect an organism to evolve?”
Hmmmm. Kittens do this all the time.
Change size? You bet. Goes from a couple of ounces to five lbs in half a year.
Change shape? Sure. The average newborn kitten is just a little bag of mewing metabolism, blind and probably deaf, whose only real talent is using its sense of smell to get control of a teat.
Changed metabolism? Sort of. Kittens must be weaned onto something other than cat milk after about six or seven weeks. I am not a vet, but surely some changes in metabolism accompany this transition.
Changed food source? Yes! From mom cat to local rodents, birds, frogs, and eggs that can be cracked by being pushed off the branch or table. Or, if the cat is under human management, a science-based diet for growing felines. Or otherwise, scavenging a local dumpster. Or whatever an obligate carnivore* like the cat can stomach.
Okay, so where are we now? We have explained how a kitten gets transformed into … a cat.
And this is “evolution”?
Question: Does a bacterium ever get transformed into a cat? As opposed to changing in ways that are normal for most life forms – though not always employed, and forced on some under duress?
And if that ever happened, your local humane society … will not be very pleased. There are many cats there now who would like kind homes. If what the Darwinist believes is true, their problems would be ever so much worse.
cheers, Denyse
(Who used to write a cat care column for a local paper.)
* Usually requires complete proteins, so tends to be predator on smaller animals. It is – I am told – possible to feed the cat a complete protein diet derived from plant sources. Far more humans are willing to go along with this than cats – a good reason to keep your canary in the cage.