tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23374557.post-62991984005097316642007-08-07T15:19:00.000-07:002007-08-07T15:19:00.000-07:00I also need to second Chris Erickson's objection to disregarding that question out of hand. It doesn't matter how complex the processes which govern that behavior are, deers get hit by cars all the time because they stop there, any set of genes which avoids that conveys an advantage. Domestic breeding isn't exactly accelerated evolution, it's just a complete flip of the selection pressure so rather than being roughly as good as it can get for nature and slowly pushing that envelope it can get as good as it can get for man, which is roughly 180 degrees different and so all the carefully adjusted gene frequencies are flipped and the gene pool levels switch quickly (which if you ascribe to gene frequency changes over time does meet the definition) -- but the point is that when something comes up the animals can adapt within a few generations so long as the needed genes are already in the gene pool.<BR/><BR/>Consider for a moment how you would selectively breed deer to avoid cars? -- How does that differ from what happens all the time now.<BR/><BR/>http://money.cnn.com/2005/11/04/news/newsmakers/deer/<BR/><BR/>1.5 million deer-car collisions a year. It certainly isn't obvious, but it does not warrant being disregarded out of hand.Tatarizehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06655536699564744308noreply@blogger.com