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[QUOTE]Originally posted by First of Two: [QB] Okay, everybody pay attention, because you'll NEVER, EVER hear anything like this again. I was WRONG. Oh, I'm NOT wrong about how speciation occurs, or that Omega clearly doesn't understand the concept. I was wrong about my source, though. I went home and looked through all my science books, and then realized to my great humiliation that the example I put forward did exist... hypothetically. That is, the species that I THOUGHT proved my point was a speculative construct, not a real incident. So I screwed up MAJORLY on that bit. Sorry, My fault, I apologize. Sometimes it's NOT helpful to remember everything you come across... when you don't remember WHERE you came across it. (**NOTE**) This does NOT preclude the possibility that an example exists elsewhere, and I just haven't found it yet. In any case, I'd like to take this opportunity to use another analogy. Species evolve like languages. Latin, a parent language, became French, Italian, and Spanish. Similar, but clearly distinct. Languages evolve by the same mechanisms as species. Start with group A and B. Both speak the same language. Now separate them. Put some kind of barrier between them (like the Pyrenees) and see that there's little cross-group mixing. Leave Group A alone. Now, introduce a new word into the language of group B. (Instead of 'pen', we'll call it 'frindle!') Let it spread throughout the population of B. Now everybody in B says 'frindle.' They all still understand each other. Now introduce another word. "Zarg" for Cat, or something. Allow it to spread in the same manner. Repeat the process several thousand times. You will find that the languages of A and B now difer considerably. Enough that people from A cannot now be understood by people from B, and vice-versa. BUT, at no point could the people of B NOT understand each other, as they ALL evolved at the same time. There was no point at which some one 'mutated' individual in group B was TOO different to the others to be understood. THAT is how it happens, kids. [/QB][/QUOTE]
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