Comments on: DNA: Falcons Closer To Parrots Than Hawks

By: Amdusias

Amdusias — Sun, 29 Jun 2008 19:45:00 +0000

This makes perfect sense to me. When you see how much a finch can change in habit and form from one Island to another, you get a real sense of how mutable and adaptable the bird realm really is. So the fact that parrots and falcons to have a closer common ancestor than falcons and hawks, really underscores the how foggy the links between species and origen of species really is, from the vantage point from which we currently can view such matters. I doubt this will be the last, or even biggest suprise as we slowly unravel the collective DNA of the planet. The sad thing is, our studdies will be mostly limited to life that is still living. Imagine the wonders of evolution that are lost to us entirely in the mist of time.

By: Munnin

Munnin — Sun, 29 Jun 2008 18:02:57 +0000

Wow! This is very exciting stuff to me. I see this is a demonstrative example of the difference between genotype and phenotype, and more importantly as an illustration of convergent evolution.

By: cryptidsrus

cryptidsrus — Sat, 28 Jun 2008 18:36:01 +0000

I agree with dogu4. Very interesting study. Who’da thunk…

By: dogu4

dogu4 — Sat, 28 Jun 2008 12:08:35 +0000

Very interesting study. What to me was at least as surprising was the suggestion that flight among the timamous birds may have been lost and re-gained, which I think might shed some insight onto the process of what we presume is about mutations and reveal an inner mechanism to genetics previously only suspected.

By: Blue Mako

Blue Mako — Sat, 28 Jun 2008 02:44:09 +0000

Fascinating. I guess this must be the bird version of the study done on mammals that showed whales to be cousins to Artiodactyls (or in the group themselves, I’m not sure which)…