Hello,
This may be a tall order, but I am wondering if it is possible to somehow measure or quantify the evolutionary change that occurs in a population of animals whose life spans are too long for us to directly observe significant change? By significant, I mean an alteration of function, appearance, etc. In other words, given that we are able to observe change amongst organisms that have shorter life spans, and therefore have "high turnover", how can we measure change, at any level, amongst longer-living animals such as humans?
I realise that most mutations will not propogate themselves, that much time can be required for changes to manifest themselves within a population (way longer than our lifetimes), and that words like "significant" and "longer" are subjective, but I'm curious to know how such a measuring process would occur, and if it's even possible!
Thanks
This message has been edited by Gofor45, 07-19-2005 03:27 PM
This message has been edited by Gofor45, 07-19-2005 03:29 PM
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