Japanese Researchers Find Dolphin With remnants of land dwelling "legs"

[Logan13]

Japanese Researchers Find Dolphin With 'Remains of Legs'-remnants of land dwelling "legs"
AP
Nov.02, 2006
TOKYO — Japanese researchers said Sunday that a bottlenose dolphin captured last month has an extra set of fins that could be the remains of back legs, a discovery that may provide further evidence that ocean-dwelling mammals once lived on land.

Fishermen captured the four-finned dolphin off the coast of Wakayama prefecture (state) in western Japan on Oct. 28, and alerted the nearby Taiji Whaling Museum, according to museum director Katsuki Hayashi.

Fossil remains show dolphins and whales were four-footed land animals about 50 million years ago and share the same common ancestor as hippos and deer. Scientists believe they later transitioned to an aquatic lifestyle and their hind limbs disappeared.

Though odd-shaped protrusions have been found near the tails of dolphins and whales captured in the past, researchers say this was the first time one had been found with well-developed, symmetrical fins, Hayashi said.

"I believe the fins may be remains from the time when dolphins' ancient ancestors lived on land ... this is an unprecedented discovery," Seiji Osumi, an adviser at Tokyo's Institute of Cetacean Research, said at a news conference televised Sunday.

The second set of fins -- much smaller than the dolphin's front fins -- are about the size of human hands and protrude from near the tail on the dolphin's underside. The dolphin measures 8.92 feet and is about five years old, according to the museum.

A freak mutation may have caused the ancient trait to reassert itself, Osumi said. The dolphin will be kept at the Taiji museum to undergo X-ray and DNA tests, according to Hayashi.

[CSAR]

Yeah, I saw this on the news. Probably the same mutation that created Godzilla...

[alphaman]

Yeah so when a human is born with a tail, it means we used to be dogs, right? Or when a human is born with six fingers on a hand -- that's the way it used to be, right? Ridiculous.

[Kärnfysikern]

Yeah so when a human is born with a tail, it means we used to be dogs, right? Or when a human is born with six fingers on a hand -- that's the way it used to be, right? Ridiculous.

Fortunaly evolution has stronger support than that after 100 years as a field of science

Glad to se you around again mate, been busy?

[alphaman]

Fortunaly evolution has stronger support than that after 100 years as a field of science

Glad to se you around again mate, been busy?

Stonger support for macro-evolution?

Yeah -- really busy. Too busy for my own good. Check your pm.

[Logan13]

Alphaman, there is no reason why you can not believe in the Bible and in evolution at the same time. Perhaps this is the method by which God adapts his creations to an ever changing world. If you believe in the Bible, and you know that the earth's climate has changed over the years, it is logical that God has changed his creations to adapt to these enviromental changes. After all, why would God change the enviroment and yet not have the fore-thought to implement a way for his creations to change to adapt to these pressures? On the other side of the philosophical spectrum, there is no reason to believe that God could not be responsible for evolution. Evolution is more than a theory, it is reality. Who or what is behind it, nobody can know for sure. God is as good of an answer to this question as any other that I have heard.....

[Logan13]

Yeah so when a human is born with a tail, it means we used to be dogs, right? Or when a human is born with six fingers on a hand -- that's the way it used to be, right? Ridiculous.

No. When a human is born with a tail it means that we used to be apes...
Although human fetuses do have a tail early on in development. Would you prefer the answer to be that when a person is born with 6 fingers it means that God is punishing him or that somehow satan interfered with the development of the fetus? Have you ever seen the fetuses of dogs, cats, apes, chickens, humans, etc? If not, I can asure you that they all look alike until after the 1st trimester. This points to a common ancestor.

[Kärnfysikern]

Stonger support for macro-evolution?

Yeah -- really busy. Too busy for my own good. Check your pm.

Yupp. speciation has been observed in plants so we have plenty of hardcore evidence for macro evolution

[Kärnfysikern]

alpha I think you need to clear your inbox or somehting because I cant send pm's to you

"alphaman has chosen not to receive private messages or may not be allowed to receive private messages. Therefore you may not send your message to him/her."

[alphaman]

alpha I think you need to clear your inbox or somehting because I cant send pm's to you

"alphaman has chosen not to receive private messages or may not be allowed to receive private messages. Therefore you may not send your message to him/her."

I changed my email and it took away all features before I verified.....

[alphaman]

Alphaman, there is no reason why you can not believe in the Bible and in evolution at the same time. Perhaps this is the method by which God adapts his creations to an ever changing world. If you believe in the Bible, and you know that the earth's climate has changed over the years, it is logical that God has changed his creations to adapt to these enviromental changes. After all, why would God change the enviroment and yet not have the fore-thought to implement a way for his creations to change to adapt to these pressures? On the other side of the philosophical spectrum, there is no reason to believe that God could not be responsible for evolution. Evolution is more than a theory, it is reality. Who or what is behind it, nobody can know for sure. God is as good of an answer to this question as any other that I have heard.....

Micro-evolution maybe -- but not macro. Man is different.

Genesis 1:26
26 Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, [a] and over all the creatures that move along the ground."