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From: gadfly@ihu1m.UUCP (Gadfly)
Newsgroups: net.origins
Subject: Re: Isolation and Unique Species
Message-ID: <393@ihu1m.UUCP>
Date: Fri, 19-Apr-85 15:18:49 EST
Article-I.D.: ihu1m.393
Posted: Fri Apr 19 15:18:49 1985
Date-Received: Sat, 20-Apr-85 03:44:46 EST
References: <217@ihnet.UUCP> <204@phri.UUCP>
Distribution: net
Organization: AT&T Bell Laboratories
Lines: 41

--
Karl Dahlke sums up the vision and the passion of a naturalist
so eloquently that I can't bear to edit it (relax, it's only 20
lines, and savor):

> 	I give a long sigh myself, but for other reasons.
> The islands were not there when animals first appeared.
> (I am not dealing with the "young earth" or "God is fooling our
> eyes" camps.)  Furthermore, the diversity of unique island species 
> is highly correlated with the island's time of isolation, and the
> number of niches on it.
> Why should Hawaii have 4/5 of the world's drosophila species?
> It doesn't contain 4/5 of the world's land area.
> Rather, it provided many different environments,
> and isolation (not many fly eaters).  These short-generation animals
> quickly evolved into a dizzying number of species.
> Why were 90% of Hawaii's indigenous plants unique?
> Why are island animals (e.g. turtles) larger than their mainland 
> counterparts?
> Why do birds become large and flightless on islands?
> Is flying expensive, and hard to justify without cats around,
> or did God just snap his/her fingers again.
> Why does evolution explain most of these phenomena.
> Why can creationism explain none of this,
> without resorting to coincidence, or continual divine intervention
> (unlikely).

After he posted this, I thought "This was how it came to Darwin".
You surround yourself in nature, and the patterns hit you over the
head.  And so I ask, are there any creationist naturalists?  I suspect
there are not, as few seem capable of seeing beyond the gilt edges
of their bibles.  And they are not alone in that myopia--many scientists
can't see beyond their sacred tomes either.  But those who can, they
stand the world on its ear.
-- 
                    *** ***
JE MAINTIENDRAI   ***** *****
                 ****** ******  19 Apr 85 [30 Germinal An CXCIII]
ken perlow       *****   *****
(312)979-7188     ** ** ** **
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