Thread: If an animal has six legs ...

you know Mortal Kombat isn't real, right?

Are you trying to profit from some poor freakish calf born on the farm?

Originally Posted by Ynot

you know Mortal Kombat isn't real, right?

Haven't played/watched MK, so clue me up

Originally Posted by Moonbeam

Are you trying to profit from some poor freakish calf born on the farm?

... what if I am?

If you follow the pattern, it'll evidently have 8

Originally Posted by Keeper

Haven't played/watched MK, so clue me up

http://images.google.co.uk/images?gb...=Search+Images

Originally Posted by Ynot

http://images.google.co.uk/images?gb...=Search+Images

Mutated animals (and humans) are generally sterile and can`t have offspring.

Originally Posted by Spartiate

Mutated animals (and humans) are generally sterile and can`t have offspring.

those mutated through exposure to radiation, yeah

Well, mutations are the key to evolution because that's the only way new alleles are created. Whether the mutation is helpful or detrimental to the animal (survival of the fittest) will determine whether the animal lives long enough to pass its genes to its offspring. There are also many other factors to take in to account (whether the mutation is actually encoded into the DNA to begin with, dominate vs. recessive traits, etc...)

In the case of a fertile six-legged animal; if the six-legged trait is dominate there's a 75% chance the offspring will have six legs. However, if the trait is recessive, there's only a 25% chance the offspring will have six legs.

I'm probably missing something though...It's been a few years since I've taken Biology.

well actually if it's only one animal and the gene is recessive, doesn't that mean it's offspring wont have six legs at all, because two parents with a recessive gene are needed for the 25% it shows?

Usually the gene would need to show up more than in just a single member of the species.

Eveer read up that monkey thing?

One monkey on an island started washing it's food.

Slowly the numbers started to rise...

After slowing down slightly, an observed monkey brought it up to a sum number.

Suddenly overnight almost the whole island's population of monkies were doing it.

Not super related... but the same thing has happened throughout history quite a bit, yet only a few monitered events were ever observed.

Well it depends whether it happened before birth (most likely scenario) or after birth (very very unlikely)

If it happened before birth then the 6 legged gene would also be implanted in it's gametes (sex cells) and as long as the gene was a dominant one then it's offspring would also have 6 legs. This is a very unlikely occurance to happen as you would need the animal to have a dominant mutant gene (odd) and for it to still be able to reproduce (odd) as well as it surviving long enough for it to be able to reproduce.

This is why evolution doesn't just leap forward every time a third eye is mutated into being.

Fun fact: Did you know that humans have relatively few genes (42) compared to other animals. We think that we are superior beings when actually pigs and the like have about half as many chromosomes as we do.

Originally Posted by Goldney

Fun fact: Did you know that humans have relatively few genes (42) compared to other animals. We think that we are superior beings when actually pigs and the like have about half as many chromosomes as we do.

Funner fact: Supernumerary chromosomes in humans cause mental retardation .

Originally Posted by Spartiate

Funner fact: Supernumerary chromosomes in humans cause mental retardation .

That's because our current form requires 42 to work correctly. That's 26 pairs of chromosomes.

Originally Posted by Seismosaur

That's because our current form requires 42 to work correctly. That's 26 pairs of chromosomes.

Hence the mental retardation...

Originally Posted by Spartiate

Hence the mental retardation...

I never disputed this fact.