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SO ENDS this thought about transient beauty and imperfection in nature and the suchness of things, one of beauty that is "imperfect, impermanent, and incomplete". The Japanese morning glory plant, which closes every day, and was bred to perfection in the Edo period in Japan is one symbol of this view of nature. There is no real equivalent of this sentiment of Wabi-Sabi in western culture, which focuses on beauty and perfection derived from Greek thinking. The next weekend Fragment continues with the morning glory. View in LinkedIn

"THE PALMAR GRASP REFLEX of human babies is thought to be a vestige from ancestral primates, where offspring needed a firm grasp of their mothers’ fur as they were carried." https://evolution-outreach.springeropen.com/articles/10.1186/s12052-014-0012-5 View in LinkedIn

VESTIGIAL BEHAVIORS. "The instinct in dogs to turn in a circle multiple times before lying down, presumably, though not assuredly, to tramp down a bed of grass." https://evolution-outreach.springeropen.com/articles/10.1186/s12052-014-0012-5 View in LinkedIn

"HICCUPS are a vestigial motor reflex pattern (of glottal closure during inhalation, so that the vocal folds slam shut) left over from early tetrapod vertebrates, specifically the tadpole larvae of amphibians. Tadpoles undergo a ventilatory transformation from external filamentous gills to pulmonary respiration, with a consequent need to close lungs to avoid ingesting water, which is diverted to gills instead." https://evolution-outreach.springeropen.com/articles/10.1186/s12052-014-0012-5 View in LinkedIn

BEYOND STRUCTURE. "Although we usually focus on ‘useless’ (apparently non-functional) structural features, other aspects of an organism’s biology might be considered vestigial. These range from biochemical reactions or physiological properties, such as the mammalian dive reflex (present in humans but in much-reduced form relative to other mammals." https://evolution-outreach.springeropen.com/articles/10.1186/s12052-014-0012-5 View in LinkedIn

FUNCTIONAL LOSS. "The term vestige refers to something that has lost a former function during evolutionary change, such as our appendix, tail bone, and goose bumps, or the rudimentary pelvic bones of cetaceans and some large snakes." https://evolution-outreach.springeropen.com/articles/10.1186/s12052-014-0012-5 View in LinkedIn

AN ABUNDANCE OF EXAMPLES. "Vestigial features can be found in any species that has evolved—which is to say, all species." https://evolution-outreach.springeropen.com/articles/10.1186/s12052-014-0012-5 View in LinkedIn

VESTIGIAL DUCT. "Ductus venosus → ligamentum venosum. The ductus venosus closes shortly after birth (functionally, with full structural closure occurring days later); its fibrous remnant is known as the ligamentum venosum. This is often continuous with the round ligament of the liver, also known as the ligamentum teres hepatis." https://evolution-outreach.springeropen.com/articles/10.1186/s12052-014-0012-5 View in LinkedIn

UNIVERSAL MAMMALIAN SHUNT VESTIGES. "Ductus arteriosus → ligamentum arteriosum. The ductus arteriosus (AKA ductus Botalli), a bypass from the pulmonary trunk to the aorta (i.e., the fourth to the sixth aortic arches), normally withers in the days following birth to become a shriveled band of tissue, the ligamentum arteriosum. This remnant, which connects the pulmonary trunk and aorta, can be found in all mammals." https://evolution-outreach.springeropen.com/articles/10.1186/s12052-014-0012-5 View in LinkedIn

MANY MORNING GLORY VARIANTS ARE STERILE. "Many variegated plants are sterile...or so far at the end of the genetic gene pool...they are usually propagated through cuttings." This was appreciated by the expert Japanese horticulturists. https://lnkd.in/dmdVJjd View in LinkedIn