<< >>Someone needs to explain this to bacteria. They are the predominate
>>life form on earth and have been evolving for the longest period of time.
>>Yet there is no clear trend that bacteria have increased their complexity
>>to fill every available niche.
Tim:
>As a direct descendant of a bacterium (or more realistically, at least
>*two* bacterial lineages), I question the suggestion that we've not
>increased our complexity over the course of evolution.
>
>Regards,
>Tim Ikeda
Susan:
>you stole my answer! :-) "They did, and here we are!"
>I wonder why so many creationists don't seem to think that your grandparents
>should be alive at the same time you are?
Bacteria are not our grandparents - they are our cousins. Of course, this
is a common mistake, but we should remember that E. coli (or any
other of the myriad of species of bacteria) are the products of >3.5 billion
years of evolution. The whole bacterial domain is just as "evolved" as
we are. And remember, I was simply responding to Chris's claim:
"It is predicted (more or less uniquely) on the basis of the very principle of
evolution that organisms will increase in complexity to fill every available
niche, as long as each increase in complexity also brings with it a survival
advantage for the genes of the organism. Indeed, that's pretty much the
*point* of evolutionary theory."
Thus, the prediction is not born out by the most ubiquitous domain of
life - unless the exception proves the rule.
Mike