How the heck does something like this evolve?

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GodlessAstronomer

GodlessAstronomer

Lifer
Oct 27, 2007
17,009
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I was just reading about the Portuguese Man o' War jellyfish and saw this interesting paragraph:
They are commonly but erroneously thought of and referred to as a jellyfish. In fact, a Portuguese Man O' War is not a single animal, but rather a siphonophore ? a colony of four kinds of minute, highly modified individuals, which are specialized polyps and medusoids.[1] Each such zooid in these pelagic colonial hydroids or hydrozoans has a high degree of specialization and, although structurally similar to other solitary animals, are all attached to each other and physiologically integrated rather than living independently. Such zooids are specialised to such an extent that they lack the structures associated with other functions and are therefore dependent for survival on the others to do what the particular zooid cannot do by itself.
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That's just really fucking cool! But how does something like this come about?
 
S

summit

Platinum Member
Sep 27, 2001
2,097
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its selected, it doesn't necessarily evolve. only the ones that became this siphonophore survived.
 
GodlessAstronomer

GodlessAstronomer

Lifer
Oct 27, 2007
17,009
5
0
Originally posted by: Summit
its selected, it doesn't necessarily evolve. only the ones that became this siphonophore survived.
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Well the individual organisms that make it up evolve. Evolution is just the process of mutation + selection so you're splitting hairs.
 
Mo0o

Mo0o

Lifer
Jul 31, 2001
24,227
3
76
There might have been an intermediate that has since been rendered useless. Perhaps these organisms lived on this scaffold in a cooperative fashion but could live alone if necessary. Eventually tehse organisms became so specialized that they had to rely on one another.

Mitochondria are similar. We CANT live without them now
 
rudeguy

rudeguy

Lifer
Dec 27, 2001
47,351
14
61
ever really looked at the anatomy of a giraffe? I'm no expert, but I know enough that they have a super strong heart in order to be able to pump blood up their long neck to their brain. The thing is, when it bends down to drink water, the heart is strong enough to pump blood right out the top of its head. So they have some special muscle that stops the flow when they bend down. They also have some storage system for the blood while that valve is closed. From what I know, they are the only animals that have anything close to that.

Too many perfect pieces exist to the puzzle for there not to be a Grand Creator.
 
Mo0o

Mo0o

Lifer
Jul 31, 2001
24,227
3
76
Originally posted by: NSFW
ever really looked at the anatomy of a giraffe? I'm no expert, but I know enough that they have a super strong heart in order to be able to pump blood up their long neck to their brain. The thing is, when it bends down to drink water, the heart is strong enough to pump blood right out the top of its head. So they have some special muscle that stops the flow when they bend down. They also have some storage system for the blood while that valve is closed. From what I know, they are the only animals that have anything close to that.

Too many perfect pieces exist to the puzzle for there not to be a Grand Creator.
Click to expand...

:confused: i cant tell if this is a troll post or not
 
Iron Woode

Iron Woode

Elite Member
Super Moderator
Oct 10, 1999
31,309
12,824
136
Originally posted by: NSFW
ever really looked at the anatomy of a giraffe? I'm no expert, but I know enough that they have a super strong heart in order to be able to pump blood up their long neck to their brain. The thing is, when it bends down to drink water, the heart is strong enough to pump blood right out the top of its head. So they have some special muscle that stops the flow when they bend down. They also have some storage system for the blood while that valve is closed. From what I know, they are the only animals that have anything close to that.

Too many perfect pieces exist to the puzzle for there not to be a Grand Creator.
Click to expand...
evolution fail.
 
Safeway

Safeway

Lifer
Jun 22, 2004
12,075
11
81
Yea, similar to mitochondria:

The endosymbiotic relationship of mitochondria with their host cells was popularized by Lynn Margulis. The endosymbiotic hypothesis suggests that mitochondria descended from bacteria that somehow survived endocytosis by another cell, and became incorporated into the cytoplasm. The ability of these bacteria to conduct respiration in host cells that had relied on glycolysis and fermentation would have provided a considerable evolutionary advantage. In a similar manner, host cells with symbiotic bacteria capable of photosynthesis would also have had an advantage. The incorporation of symbiotes would have increased the number of environments in which the cells could survive. This symbiotic relationship probably developed 1.7-2 billion years ago.
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M

mcmilljb

Platinum Member
May 17, 2005
2,144
2
81
It's not a jellyfish. Looks like one, but it's not. I believe they evolved well before jellyfish.

They are commonly but erroneously thought of and referred to as a jellyfish. In fact, a Portuguese Man O' War is not a single animal, but rather a siphonophore ? a colony of four kinds of minute, highly modified individuals, which are specialized polyps and medusoids.
Click to expand...

But they're fucking awesome though! Especially since they can have tenacles 50 meters long!
 
S

sjwaste

Diamond Member
Aug 2, 2000
8,757
12
81
although structurally similar to other solitary animals, are all attached to each other and physiologically integrated rather than living independently.
Click to expand...

wouldn't this be an argument against not calling it a single organism?
 
rudeguy

rudeguy

Lifer
Dec 27, 2001
47,351
14
61
Originally posted by: Mo0o
Originally posted by: NSFW
ever really looked at the anatomy of a giraffe? I'm no expert, but I know enough that they have a super strong heart in order to be able to pump blood up their long neck to their brain. The thing is, when it bends down to drink water, the heart is strong enough to pump blood right out the top of its head. So they have some special muscle that stops the flow when they bend down. They also have some storage system for the blood while that valve is closed. From what I know, they are the only animals that have anything close to that.

Too many perfect pieces exist to the puzzle for there not to be a Grand Creator.
Click to expand...

:confused: i cant tell if this is a troll post or not
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I'm way too old to troll. Just stating a fact.
 
M

mcmilljb

Platinum Member
May 17, 2005
2,144
2
81
Originally posted by: sjwaste
although structurally similar to other solitary animals, are all attached to each other and physiologically integrated rather than living independently.
Click to expand...

wouldn't this be an argument against not calling it a single organism?
Click to expand...

Read further:

Such zooids are specialised to such an extent that they lack the structures associated with other functions and are therefore dependent for survival on the others to do what the particular zooid cannot do by itself.
Click to expand...

Same reason humans are not considered a colony of cells. The different cells depend on each other.
 
Mo0o

Mo0o

Lifer
Jul 31, 2001
24,227
3
76
Originally posted by: NSFW
Originally posted by: Mo0o
Originally posted by: NSFW
ever really looked at the anatomy of a giraffe? I'm no expert, but I know enough that they have a super strong heart in order to be able to pump blood up their long neck to their brain. The thing is, when it bends down to drink water, the heart is strong enough to pump blood right out the top of its head. So they have some special muscle that stops the flow when they bend down. They also have some storage system for the blood while that valve is closed. From what I know, they are the only animals that have anything close to that.

Too many perfect pieces exist to the puzzle for there not to be a Grand Creator.
Click to expand...

:confused: i cant tell if this is a troll post or not
Click to expand...

I'm way too old to troll. Just stating a fact.
Click to expand...

Why couldnt a giraffe like animal with a much smaller neck gradually develop larger and larger vascualr smooth muscle as its hemodynamic needs changed? It doesnt have to be a sudden change
 
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