Just because we have two arms and two legs does not mean we share a common ancestor
You missed my point.
If two species share a common ancestor would you or would you not expect them to have shared characteristics? I am not asking you to accept common ancestry. All I am asking is what you would expect to see
if common ancestry was true.
sheep, pigs and deers have split hooves...are they related?
They are all in the placental mammal kind, aren't they?
perhaps the gene was rendered inactive once it was inserted into the mouse
Nope. These can be genes vital for the survival of the mouse, and they work just fine. The expression of these genes is always verified, and there are even systems where you can control the expression of the gene with different drugs.
have they tried this in the embryonic stages of life before the genes have had a chance to do what they were designed to do????
Yep.