Did the chicken come first or is it turtles all the way down?

Re:Did the chicken come first or is it turtles all the way d... by lurquer on Monday February 10, 2020 @05:01PM (#22293865)

Chickens have 78 chromosomes.

There is nothing incremental about moving from 76 to 78. Or, from 78 to 80 (turkeys).

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Re:Did the chicken come first or is it turtles all the way d... by Tagbert on Monday February 10, 2020 @10:38PM (#22295839)

Evolution is a feature of populations, not individuals.

If the proto-chickens had 76 chromosomes, and some had a tendency to have offspring with 78 chromosomes, there would be some 78 chromosome chickens born within the population. As long as those chickens bred with each other it would work. Soon they would become a distinct population of individuals breeding with each other.

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Re:Did the chicken come first or is it turtles all the way d... by lurquer on Tuesday February 11, 2020 @01:37AM (#22296558)

How often do chicken have offspring with an extra pair of chromosomes?

Do you have data on this?

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Re:Did the chicken come first or is it turtles all the way d... by drewbug on Monday February 10, 2020 @05:33PM (#22294154)

How is incrementing by 2 not incremental?

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Re:Did the chicken come first or is it turtles all the way d... by lurquer on Monday February 10, 2020 @10:21PM (#22295737)

It's discontinuous. It's obvious what the post implied... that the changes are gradual and continuous.

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