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Re: AAT reply from Elaine Morgan
Todd A. Farmerie (taf2@po.CWRU.Edu)
8 Jan 1995 22:18:13 GMT
In a previous article, patdooley@aol.com (Pat Dooley) says:
>I had read there was an ongoing debate in zoological circles about
>whether flying foxes belonged in the bat family or some off-shoot of
>primitive primates. If the latter is true, then the convergence is
>remarkable.
>
The theory, which was proposed on the basis of similarities in neural
structure or development (I don't recall which) between flying foxes and
primates, never proposed that the flying foxes were an offshoot of
primative primates, but that the two groups shared a common lineage (subtle
but very important difference, otherwise one could equally propose that
primates came from primative flying foxes - sort of an Aerial Ape Theory:).
Since the theory was first proposed in the scientific literature, it has
been tested by molecular phylogeny. The resulting data, which has been
published, is strongly in favor of monophylic bats. Thus, the neurological
similarities between the two groups is the result of either: a.convergent
evolution between flying foxes and primates; b.a primitive characteristic
lost by other bats.
Todd
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