quote:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Vestigial features, structures, biochemical pathways or behaviours are not currently adaptive, at least not in free living stages, although they may facilitate embryonic development
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
That's very interesting, Mr Jack.
Jerry Coyne doesn't agree with that view....
quote:
The lesson, though, goes deeper. The wings of the ostrich are a vestigial trait: a feature of a species that was an adaptation in its ancestors, but that has either lost its usefulness completely or, as in the ostrich, has been co-opted for new uses. Like all flightless birds, ostriches are descended from flying ancestors. We know this from both fossil evidence and from the pattern of ancestry that flightless birds carry in their DNA. But the wings, though still present, can no longer help the birds take flight to forage or escape predators and bothersome graduate students. Yet the wings are not uselessthey've evolved new functions. They help the bird maintain balance, mate, and threaten its enemies.
Object not found!
I agree with you that jaws should not be counted as vestigial ears, wings as vestigial legs etc - but I do think ostrich wings are vestigial.
™ Version 4.2