Claws came first, and fingernails and toenails were a later adaptation. But nails developed for animal lineages that had already diverged from each other, so there must be reasons they were better than claws for certain species. This TED-Ed lesson gives us some ideas for why that happened. -via Laughing Squid
Newest 2 Comments
Basically evolution is mutation (or change) combined with selection not more and not less. Wherever these two aspects apply you can observe evoluion at work. It seems there is some kind of misunderstanding with evolution. Evolution is a very effective killer and it is not there to save you or anyone or anything else form extinction. Evolution is above all the terminal "extinctor". Compare evolution with a kind of unfair race with slow and rapid changes of the rules and the track. On the other hand, all participants are subjected from to arbitrary small-step changes they even can't control. Note: Evolution is a killer, and therefore much more species have been erased fron the planet than are present right now. And it will continue killing. And if you take an open minded look at the world, you can see the principles of evolution working everywhere. So assume that evolution is true and believe me we are not the only one with special abilities, but whe where the first and where the ones that very successfully drive the second and third places towards extinvtion...
Abusive comment hidden.
(Show it anyway.)
-In the video it clearly states that claws and nails are not superior/better to one another. They are extremely similar, and are better than one another depending on the action. Also there's giant gaps between the supposed evolution of monkeys/gorillas/etc and modern humans. Also 99% of all organisms that have ever existed are now extinct - meaning "evolution" could not save them despite evolution having millions of years to save them. Also Humans are the only thing on the planet capable of advanced language (Japanese/English/etc.) and advanced structures (Starbucks/Electrical Grid/etc.). If evolution is true and not a theory, why do only humans have an a evolutionary branch towards these abilities? Humans are not the only intelligent organism on the planet, and Humans are far from the only apex predator. Why would evolution exclude tigers, bears, wolves, dogs, crocodiles, from evolution that could save them from extinction? Why only humans, after millions of years? Because evolution is a theory and it will only ever be a theory. :>
Abusive comment hidden.
(Show it anyway.)