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IN TRANSITION. "However, evidence casting doubt that most of the human genome possesses a functional role has existed for some time. This is not to say that none of the nonprotein-coding majority of the genome is functional—examples of functional noncoding sequences have been known for more than half a century, and even the earliest proponents of “junk DNA” and “selfish DNA” predicted that further examples would be found." http://journals.plos.org/plosgenetics/article?id=10.1371/journal.pgen.1004351 View in LinkedIn

TARSAL RANKING. "Recent studies, and the present paper indicate that evolving foot form is replete with apomorphic characters, and moreover, that these can be keyed to reasonable functional and adaptive roles. Gregory (1910) perceptively recognized the potential importance of characters of the feet, particularly tarsals, even ranking them above teeth!" (Apomorphic = unique species trait). https://lnkd.in/er98r8i View in LinkedIn

TALUS UPON THE CALCANEUS. "Schaeffer (1941) rightly stressed that the therapsid foot was converted into a mammalian one by superposition of the talus upon the calcaneus, correlated with a loss of weight-bearing contact between fibula and calcaneus; but little is known about how the complex articular surfaces and ligamentous apparatus of the mammalian foot came into being." https://lnkd.in/er98r8i View in LinkedIn

COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE. "There is little doubt that one of the major evolutionary assets of therian mammals was a complex foot architecture with subtly integrated articular complexes at the ankle, subtalar and traverse tarsal joints." A brilliant three part anatomical analysis of the foot across species (OJ Lewis, St Bartholemew's Hospital, London). (Therian = marsupials and placentals). https://lnkd.in/er98r8i View in LinkedIn

OBLIGATE BIPEDS. "Of all extant primates, humans are the only obligate bipeds. Highly specialized postcranial adaptations, especially in the lower limb, characterize this unique form of locomotion. The foot is particularly specialized in both its anatomy and its function." https://lnkd.in/eicfqZV View in LinkedIn

EXAPTATION. "All epoch-making discoveries have in their wake a revision of pre-existing ideas." http://www.jstor.org/stable/43430678?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents View in LinkedIn

NOT FIRST PRINCIPLES. We always assume that evolution has developed the most highly adapted design for a particular function -- think Darwin's Finches -- and how adapted they are to their particular foods. However, most of evolution seems to have been a series of workarounds from an outmoded design to a new use, rather than a design from first principles. The evolution of the human foot is a case in point. It derived from a quadrupedal and arboreal ancestor, trying to make it suitable for bipedal locomotion. Or, put differently, turning a square into a triangle. View in LinkedIn

FRAGMENT FROM NATURE deals for two weekends on the evolution of the human foot. If someone presented me with a design for a human foot that looked like the actual human foot, I probably would have thrown them out of my office. Clunky, messy, bolt-on evolution is why the designs from robotics companies look nothing like the human foot: it was not designed from scratch with a single purpose. All about exaptation: the acquisitions of functions for which they were not originally adapted. View in LinkedIn

Earthworm Society of Great Britain View in LinkedIn

COMMON TRANSITION FEATURES. 3. "There have been many changes in language, information storage and transmission. Examples include the origin of the genetic code, of sexual reproduction, of epigenetic inheritance and of human language." https://lnkd.in/eZ5-m7K View in LinkedIn