Biological complexity: protozoa sans mitochondria (Introduction)

by dhw, Saturday, May 14, 2016, 10:27 (3116 days ago) @ David Turell

DAVID: A startling new find. A protozoa, which means a eukaryote, without mitochondria. Of course the authors insist, per Darwin, that they must have had them and modified to lose them, per common descent, but did they?:-http://www.the-scientist.com/?articles.view/articleNo/46077/title/Mysterious-Eukaryote-... -QUOTE: Now that we've found one, we need to look at the bigger picture and see if there are other examples of eukaryotes that have lost their mitochondria, to understand how adaptable eukaryotes are.”-David's comment: I like the phrase 'evolutionary plasticity' It fits my contention that a 'drive to complexity' is all that is needed to advance evolution and explain to dhw all the weird parts of the bush of life. Invent novelty, however complex, and what survives becomes the evolutionary advance (per Darwin). Perhaps learning to live on sulfur, not oxygen, negated the need for mitochondria which are generally the oxygen-burning organelles.-I would suggest “evolutionary plasticity” means the organism adapts itself to its needs in relation to the environment, precisely as you have suggested (“learning to live in sulphur”). Adapting to the environment or innovating in order to exploit new opportunities clearly explains all the weird parts of the bush of life, whereas God specifically guiding all the weirdnesses of evolution in order to produce and feed humans, though they have nothing to do with humans, is confusing. But see the post under “algae” for a wider ranging discussion.