The Puffer Forum

Flutter wrote:Nothing is more evolved than something else. We all came from the same place and we all took the same amount of time to get to the present. Nothing is higher or lower or more advanced vs primitive. Evolution does not work like that.

We call this "primitive" and "advanced" based on how long a certain feature has been around and stayed the same. "Higher" and "lower" refer to how close to the original things are - eukayotes are low because they came first, and prokaryotes are high because they came from eukaryotes. My understanding (from my Bio class) is that they're just scientific terms, not ranks. And yes, some things are more evolved than others. Some things developed more slowly and haven't come as far in the same amount of time. Other things have retained the same form that they had millions or even billions of years ago. It doesn't mean that one thing is BETTER than another, just that it's gone through more changes.

Unfortunately that's just completely false.

I LOVE evolution and I've taken several classes on it, the lowest one being a 3rd year course. These courses were taken from professors whose lives are evolution, their work is in evolution.

You know how when you get to university and you find out that a bunch of information you learned in high school is wrong? A simple one is the fact that there's no such thing as warm blooded and cold blooded organisms. There's homeotherms, heterotherms, faculative heterotherms and homeotherms, poikilotherms, etc.

My Puffer Love Story...

I was young and moved to Florida after Collage. There was a beach shop close to my condo that I just loved...not for their T-Shirts or Beach Towells..but for their beautiful Porcupine puffer...he would come up to me and press his face so close to the glass that it would turn white and his lips would smoosh up. He'd look at me with those big blue eyes like he was wanting to talk to me. I thought he was the most wonderful fish I'd ever seen. I never dreamed that I'd walk into a pet shop in my home town and find a tiny spotted version of the Puffer I fell in love with so long ago. I've been hooked ever since!

this feels like a Puffers Annonamous session
"hi, im karen, and im addicted to fahakas and dwarf puffers"
:in unison, everyone replies:
"hi karen...."

i have to admit though, im hooked.... completely addicted to my puffers cant help it! i love when they pucker up and get that sparkle in their eyes right before they go for a snail haha, makes me smile every time

Who could resist this smile?

Is it weird that I want to give Filbert a hug? lol

We call this "primitive" and "advanced" based on how long a certain feature has been around and stayed the same.

So you're saying that a creature that had a certain set of traits 10 million years ago is primitive because it ended up with the right tools FIRST? Frankly, if I were using that language I'd be calling them the advanced ones. You're talking about DERIVED characteristics. In evolution there's no such thing as primitive vs. advanced. A horseshoe crab is no less advanced than a human, we are more complex and have more derived characteristics, but nothing more than that.

"Higher" and "lower" refer to how close to the original things are - eukayotes are low because they came first, and prokaryotes are high because they came from eukaryotes.

Higher and lower just doesn't work either. We're all at the EXACT SAME LEVEL because we all took the EXACT SAME AMOUNT OF TIME TO GET HERE. Assigning these terms to organisms is just silly. Nothing is higher or lower, they're just different. Bacteria have ruled this world for a long time and they still do. I wouldn't dare call them lower because they got an effective plan first.

And yes, some things are more evolved than others. Some things developed more slowly and haven't come as far in the same amount of time. Other things have retained the same form that they had millions or even billions of years ago. It doesn't mean that one thing is BETTER than another, just that it's gone through more changes.

Nothing is more evolved, just doesn't exist. We've been evolving for the same amount of time as everything else. To put things in perspective, do you know much about amphibian lineage? Did you know that we can't link current amphibians to those found in fossils? Do you know why? Because the current amphibians have changed SO much we are completely unable to connect the dots. It's pretty darn easy to connect our dots According to your terms amphibians are WAY more evolved than humans are

I don't even know what your term of "far" is. There's so much we don't understand, we can't even understand basic communication of the vast majority of animals. Funny enough, a lot of them can understand ours.

Evolution is my thing, don't mess with it

Hope I was able to help clear some things up. Evolution is absolutely wonderful, it's amazing, and the vast majority of people simply don't understand it.

PS: The US is known for NOT educating it's students properly about evolution. Something about religious leaders and religion still influencing workings of the country.

Yeah,

I think I'm a little more advanced than a crab.

Flutter--
Geez. This isn't a high school class I'm talking about, it's a college one. I'd love to comment on a couple of things you said, but that would be a total derail. I just want to say one thing - please don't assume that I'm a high school kid and never experienced serious academia. My class wasn't in-depth or hugely advanced, but it was a college class, not a high school one, and it was taken from a professor with a Ph.D., not a teaching-certified Bio major. Evolution may not be "my thing," and I am not saying I'm right on everything, but I did take a legitimate college class on it.

If you want to continue the discussion, please PM me. I'd be happy to talk.

well. onward to the topic, puffers are irresistible to me because their the cutest things ever to swim the seas..and rivers. You can play with them too.

I love their eyes. marksrush once said that porcs have eyes like Tiffany glass - a perfect description.

Feel free to but I wouldn't try to teach you theatre so I imagine you wouldn't want to teach me biology.

I love the way my DPs float around the tank, then when I come close, no matter where they are in the tank, they all rush to the glass to see if I have food LOL!

I will love Samson, for his cute face and smile, they way he floats around, and hovers.

All puffers are adorable in their own ways

Don

Samson who? You got him already?