Just goes to show, the world only makes sense when you force it to...

And sometimes that takes thousands of years of theological refinement. Thanks to everyone who posted the quotes from Douglas Adams, it's an eminently palatable version of what I've been thinking for a while.

Also, I'd like to think Kirk realizes just how homoerotic Comfort is being and is laughing at him, but I think that's being optimistic about the entire affair.

Just to clarify a quick point which seems to have been misunderstood at a few points in the discussion: the introduced lizards did not interbreed with the original lizard population of the island.

Any changes between when the wall lizards were first introduced and when the scientists returned was due to either selection pressures or to the effects of a new diet.

I refuse to take it for granted that this is due to a change the genome. I do not see why it could not be due to it, but as of yet the possibility of the observed changes being due to change in diet has not been ruled out, at least not by the scientists writing the paper. I like a healthy amount of doubt served with my science, or with anything for that matter.

Although, I admit it is difficult to explain the new gut structure in terms of a simple change in diet (that hasn't stopped everyone from trying). I guess that's why I'd be more inclined towards the idea that there is a genotypical change accompanying the change observed in the wall lizards. But like I said, I'd like to have the proof of it before I start making any claims.

I'd like to think that boingboing will post a link to whichever obscure science journal carries the less sensational follow up article two years from now, although I must admit that would be asking a lot.

@ all the scientists in the thread, I agree with Hendry's comment at the end of the article, that the change in the lizards needs to be confirmed as genetic. I see no reason that it would not be: the initial population of 5 pairs would no doubt experience strong selection pressures, and the changes observed would offer a competitive advantage.

It could still be argued that the changes observed in the lizards are the result of a changing diet, although personally I think it's a bit of a stretch to say that. A controlled experiment in which typical Italian wall lizards were raised under the same conditions as individuals of the new island population ought to establish that the differences are heritable, and therefore the direct result of either the founder effect or of selection. In either case, it's evolution in action, pure and simple.

Yay science and scientific rigor!

Cool, although the 2D flat world is a little misleading... lies and damned lies, I guess... I would like to see the same information represented in 3 dimensions, but I guess I'm just being picky...

#20: An animals digestive culture is the result of generational inheritance, and is suited very specifically to the animal it's in.

I agree, from a biological perspective this can't really be very viable... maybe we'll get cows that can't properly absorb nutrients and die, thus removing methane producers from the equation, just in a different way than intended. In any case I doubt we'll be seeing methane-free beef in our stores anytime soon...

I like Mr. Terrific sitting in a crowd of Marvel characters... he was released about 2 years after the other figures, so he's really out of place in that group of figures.

Really low quality figures: eyes facing all directions and the like. But they have an appeal for gamers who can't tell one end of a paintbrush from the other. Some of my friends are avid collectors, and they would never have started playing in the first place had the figures required painting. I guess my main complaint would be that they really slather on the paint so a lot of the figure's original detailing is lost with a second layer of paint.