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Genuine Puzzles In Biology?

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Author Topic:   Genuine Puzzles In Biology?
Dr Adequate
Member (Idle past 303 days)
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Message 1 of 2 (562265)
05-27-2010 12:05 PM

Creationist nonsense apart, there are some things in nature which make you think: "Why in the world should it be like that?"
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The hairlessness of humans is one instance, there's been a lot of debate about that.
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Another thing which has long puzzled me is the conservation of cervical vertebra number in mammals. With only two-and-a-half exceptions, mammals have seven vertebrae in their necks, no matter how long or short their necks are. Now, this number varies wildly in other classes of vertebrates; and also in mammals themselves the number of other sorts of vertebrae are not fixed at all: the number of dorsal vertebra can even vary within a species. Why should the number of cervical vertebrae be so invariable?
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So would anyone like to add to the list? What is genuinely puzzling in biology --- what are the questions that need answers and don't yet have them?
AdminAsgara
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Message 2 of 2 (562269)
05-27-2010 12:19 PM

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