Mutants - Oh my!
Posted on : Wed, Jan 11, 2006
My understanding of Darwinism is based on high-school biology class and some books I have read including Richard Dawkings "the Selfish Gene". The underlying message that I have learned is that Natural selection favors mutations in the gene-pool that give that specific combination of genes a decided advantage over it's peer gene-sets.
In effect, an animal with longer legs would stand a better chance of outrunning predators than it's peers with standard issue legs.
This is all fine and good, and as led us to have awesome specialization amongst the critters we co-inhabit this planet with. Also it has given us Human-Kind, the most advanced grouping of genes on the planet... at least I think so.
My point today is not to talk about the good mutations of animals, but rather the flip side of this coin. The animals with defective mutations so obvious that they stand out as being 'freakish' and notable as one-off entities.
Without further ado, here is the 8 legged cat.
...Of course the Kitten died very soon after birth.
But then I found a two-Headed Turtle! Wow, now this one has an advantage. It can look both ways before crossing a street AT THE SAME TIME! Good for such a slow moving animal where a head turn might last a while.
But neither her of them was as awesome in it's powers of cuteness as the two-faced kitten! Beware, this kittens powers of mind control are beyond comprehension.
All of these animals were found on Amazing Animals