quote:
I conclude marsupialism is not a big change any more then colour change in people after the flood.
This is absurd. There is much, much more difference between marsupials and placentals than just there mode of reproduction. Morphologically, the marsupials are much closer to each other than they are to any placental -- given a skeleton, a good mammalian taxonimist would be able to classify it as either marsupial or placental. This is a post by Doubting Didymous on the Internet Infidels message board:
The thing I find most hilarious about this one is the claim that marsupial species that have converged with eutherian species are practically the same bar the reproductive equipment.
Truly giggleworthy. In fact, as with all evolutionary convergenced, the similarity is only superficial, and the biological details show the real descent of the species.
Let me see if my rusty memory can serve me well enough.
Dealing only with the skull, converged marsupial species should have the following major anatomical features in common with other marsupials, and different from all placentals:
Heavy, obviously pronounced jugal arches. That's those sticky-out cheekbone things.
Defenestrated upper pallate. That's holes in the bone plate in the roof of the mouth.
Absent tympanic bullae. These are some lumps under the skull associated with hearing. In placentals they're entirely bony but marsupials either lack them, or they are made mostly from cartilage.
Ahhhm... oh yes, the actual cranium will be significantly thinner, smaller and more elongated in the marsupial than in the placental.
And there's something to do with the ratio of incisors/canines and molars, and the diastema in the teeth in the top jaw, but I've forgotten the numbers.
These are just the major features of one small chunk of the organism (the skull), that will clearly show undeniable commonality with other marsupials. A similar list can doubtless be made for any other feature of the organism. The claim that things like the thylacine are basically wolves with pouches is really quite funny.
This also doesn't include such things as the phylogenic trees based on genetics and molecular biology also confirm that marsupials are only very distantly related to placental mammals.
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