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Of course not every species would find a way to adapt. The issue is species have to be equipped to survive. How they get there ? Survival isn't passive but acti

Of course not every species would find a way to adapt. The issue is species have to be equipped to survive. How they get there ? Survival isn't passive but active. How do you survive a change in season with no time to adapt. For example animals that can hibernate must have that ability before it is required. But why would it evolved that ability in the first place ? Why is it that the animals that can hibernate are the ones that can't survive without it ? No strawman here, how long did it take for birds to evolve ability to fly ? A few days ?

Tichy 13y ago
You are thinking about it backwards. Of course first there were only animals who couldn't hibernate, and who couldn't fly (for example single cell life forms...). It's not as if god dropped some bears into Canada and then when winter came they suddenly had to evolve the ability to hibernate. Why don't you go grab a book about evolution theory that explains all those things? I don't know how long it took to evolve flight, but it doesn't really matter. I could guess: flying underwater is a lot easier than in air, because you can drift even if your wings (fins) don't really help you control your direction much. The first animals that could fly above land probably couldn't fly like today's birds either. Perhaps they could only drift a little while jumping from a tree. Or perhaps they were tiny animals that could actually float in the air (on a smaller scale it works), so that forming half working wings was some advantage already. The reality is probably something else, as I said, I don't really know. You could pose billions of questions of that kind about evolution (why did animals evolve to do this and that, and how). Just because a random evolutionist can't answer every such question doesn't mean it is wrong. It just means you have to look up the answer yourself, or research it yourself. Biology is not a finished field of research.
- inkaudio 13y ago
  The reason I ask about the how long flight took to evolve was because it was argued that evolution does not take thousands of years, and that's not true. I've read the books that's why I see the paradox. I'm not playing games, if there are factual answers I would not be asking questions here. If an animal could survive for thousands of years without hibernating there would be no reason for it. It could even prove disastrous making the animal easy prey. Moreover the dynamics of traveling underwater and flying in air are different. Features that are great for flight are not so great for traversing underwater for an extended period of time. There are animals that can glide today, but even there ability to glide has to evolve, and during that evolutionary process an evolving glider is a disadvantage. It is not neutral, it slows the animal down. If you are going to debate with conviction your answer should not be "I don't really know". Yes, biology is far finished so let's not pretend like it is.
  - Tichy 13y ago
    There are lots of animals that don't hibernate. Have you considered that you misynderstoid evolution theory? Biology isn't complete doesn't mean the parts known so far are wrong. Can't write longer replies now because I only have a phone atm.
dllthomas 13y ago
There is a smooth and quite obvious progression from sleeping to hibernation: simply extend the sleep period during certain times of year. If the environment is such that this will be beneficial, it'll be selected for over the long term. Certainly, in an environment where hibernation is absolutely required, it's not going to evolve - but the world is a diverse place with a lot of intermediates, and something that's necessary on the other side of that ridge might help here while I can nonetheless survive with a lesser version.

Tichy 13y ago

You are thinking about it backwards. Of course first there were only animals who couldn't hibernate, and who couldn't fly (for example single cell life forms...). It's not as if god dropped some bears into Canada and then when winter came they suddenly had to evolve the ability to hibernate. Why don't you go grab a book about evolution theory that explains all those things? I don't know how long it took to evolve flight, but it doesn't really matter. I could guess: flying underwater is a lot easier than in air, because you can drift even if your wings (fins) don't really help you control your direction much. The first animals that could fly above land probably couldn't fly like today's birds either. Perhaps they could only drift a little while jumping from a tree. Or perhaps they were tiny animals that could actually float in the air (on a smaller scale it works), so that forming half working wings was some advantage already. The reality is probably something else, as I said, I don't really know. You could pose billions of questions of that kind about evolution (why did animals evolve to do this and that, and how). Just because a random evolutionist can't answer every such question doesn't mean it is wrong. It just means you have to look up the answer yourself, or research it yourself. Biology is not a finished field of research.

inkaudio 13y ago
The reason I ask about the how long flight took to evolve was because it was argued that evolution does not take thousands of years, and that's not true. I've read the books that's why I see the paradox. I'm not playing games, if there are factual answers I would not be asking questions here. If an animal could survive for thousands of years without hibernating there would be no reason for it. It could even prove disastrous making the animal easy prey. Moreover the dynamics of traveling underwater and flying in air are different. Features that are great for flight are not so great for traversing underwater for an extended period of time. There are animals that can glide today, but even there ability to glide has to evolve, and during that evolutionary process an evolving glider is a disadvantage. It is not neutral, it slows the animal down. If you are going to debate with conviction your answer should not be "I don't really know". Yes, biology is far finished so let's not pretend like it is.
- Tichy 13y ago
  There are lots of animals that don't hibernate. Have you considered that you misynderstoid evolution theory? Biology isn't complete doesn't mean the parts known so far are wrong. Can't write longer replies now because I only have a phone atm.

dllthomas 13y ago

There is a smooth and quite obvious progression from sleeping to hibernation: simply extend the sleep period during certain times of year. If the environment is such that this will be beneficial, it'll be selected for over the long term. Certainly, in an environment where hibernation is absolutely required, it's not going to evolve - but the world is a diverse place with a lot of intermediates, and something that's necessary on the other side of that ridge might help here while I can nonetheless survive with a lesser version.