Coelacanth fish are considered to be living fossils, meaning they exist in pretty much exactly the same form as they did millions of years ago.
But if you went back in time and brought a coelacanth fish from 100 million years ago to the present day and introduced it to a modern coelacanth fish, they would not be able to breed, because even if the visible form of the animal has not changed, its DNA is nonetheless so different as to be incompatible.
Over millions of years, mutations accumulate in the genetic code, inevitably changing it. Thus it is impossible for a creature to stop evolving. This makes sense but it makes me really existential for some reason
Well , I mean likely can’t breed but but there is the rare possibilities:
The sturddlefish is a hybrid of the American paddlefish (Polyodon spathula) and the Russian sturgeon (Acipenser gueldenstaedtii), accidentally created by researchers in 2019 and announced in 2020.[2] Obtaining living hybrids through breeding individuals from different families is unusual, especially given that the two species' last common ancestor lived 184 million years ago.[3]
Taxonomy and genetics agains says “eff your rules”
Well that sure is something!
So something interesting I learned during my brief stint as a geneticist is that things that "look" similar to extinct taxa on the outside often have undergone WAY more genetic changes than things that look visibly different
This is because the traits self correct. Genetic drift is always happening, and life is always changing. So, if a population experiences such strong selection that they need to stay the same, they need to correct that with just as many mutations as those that happen to make them drift away.
So, in many ways, "living fossil" could not be a more misleading term. We talk about coelacanths, sharks, crocodilians not evolving for millions of years, but in many ways... they're evolving more than the rest of us, just so they can stay the same.
And that's the coolest shit I've ever learned
Wow...to stand still you have to keep running, because the very code of your being is moving underneath you...
Hey. Why isn’t the moon landing a national holiday in the US. Isn’t that fucked up? Does anyone else think that’s absurd?
It was a huge milestone of scientific and technological advancement. (Plus, at the time, politically significant). Humanity went to space! We set foot on a celestial body that was not earth for the first time in human history! That’s a big deal! I’ve never thought about it before but now that I have, it’s ridiculous to me that that’s not part of our everyday lives and the public consciousness anymore. Why don’t we have a public holiday and a family barbecue about it. Why have I never seen the original broadcast of the moon landing? It should be all over the news every year!
It’s July 20th. That’s the day of the moon landing. Next year is going to be the 54th anniversary. I’m ordering astronaut shaped cookie cutters on Etsy and I’m going to have a goddamn potluck. You’re all invited.
Hey. Hey. Tumblr. Ides of March ppl. We can do this
Hell yeah moon holiday
Au Café (l'Absinthe), Edgar Degas,
1876,olio su tela, Musèe d’Orsay, Paris
Lighting at The Monument
Catherine why are you like this
Please god no
“My belief is that art should not be comforting; for comfort, we have mass entertainment and one another. Art should provoke, disturb, arouse our emotions, expand our sympathies in directions we may not anticipate and may not even wish.”
— Joyce Carol Oates (b. 16 June 1938)
