This gap has been underscored by recent genetic findings, including the analysis of the completed genome reviewed here. The gap between platypus anatomy and that of all other mammals is so large that platypus taxonomy has been enigmatic ever since its discovery in the late 1700s by westerners in Australia. Note how the beak does not look like it belongs on the animal. This reduction is also observed in pangolins, which suggests convergent evolution that results from the insectivore diet of both echidnas and pangolins. The number is reduced to three in echidna. For example, eutherian mammals have more than 25 copies of bitter taste receptor genes (TAS2R genes), whereas this gene family is considerably smaller in monotremes with only 7 in platypus. Convergence is a very problematic explanation, given the fact that expecting a trait to emerge by evolution even once is unlikely in the extreme:Ĭhemosensory systems … that is essential for survival and reproduction through the direct interaction with environmental chemical cues. ” And another example explains similarities by claiming convergent evolution, where two close-to-identical structures evolved independently. įrom 21 million years to 55 million years represents an enormous difference in time! Here is another example of their rank speculation: “gene families associated with the immune response and hair growth were expanded considerably in the mammalian ancestor, perhaps contributing to the evolution of immune adaptation and fur, respectively, in mammals. This estimate provides a date for the monotreme–therian split that is earlier than previous estimates (about 21 million years ago). Our phylogenomic reconstruction shows that monotremes diverged from therians around 187 million years ago, and the two monotremes diverged around 55 million years ago…. It illustrates the fact that many evolutionary dates are estimates, actually better described as guesstimates: Dating revisions like this are common in evolutionary writing.
They found evidence that previous dates given for evolutionary events were greatly in error.
The formation of such a unique chromosome complex may have been facilitated by the unusually extensive interactions between the multi-X and multi-Y chromosomes that are shared by the autosomal homologues in humans. We provide evidence that the monotreme sex chromosome complex originated from an ancestral chromosome ring configuration. Most of the usage reveals that the evolutionary conclusions are mere speculation. The study, published in the esteemed journal Nature, is titled, “Platypus and echidna genomes reveal mammalian biology and evolution.” The word evolution was used 65 times in the article. If anything, it creates problems for evolution. The Darwinism-based article claims, “despite their oddities, their newly sequenced genome illuminates the evolution of mammals.” Actually, the newly sequenced genome does nothing of the kind.
Much is promised in the article reviewed here, but in the end little is delivered. What nature’s weirdest mammal says about our origins” A review of the New Scientist article, “The platypus: