Saturday, June 26, 2010

Finding Nemo

First of all, the idea of of using fish to find out more about the human body seemed bewildering due to all of the differences between us and the aquatic species, however, when we look at it in a retrospective way, as Neil Shubin says, we need to look at what is in common between us and other animals rather to what is different. The breaking down of animals into groups such as "Everything with heads" helps in this process. Even though fish seem far off from us mammals, it is important to note that 70% of the Earth is water, thus, fish would be a more abundant fossil to be found and analyzed.
Secondly, when Shubin mentions the variety of displaced fossils, such as oceanic materials atop of Mount Everest, I had to look up for a moment and re-gather my thoughts. Could this be possible? That is quite an amazing aspect of the displacement of fossils is quite an interesting subject, and hopefully more is said about it in the future about this. I am still fascinated by tropical fossils being found in the Arctic, which further serves to validate Pangaea since the Arctic would be a bit more South and closer to the Equator.
Anyhow, this novel seems to be interesting and I hope that the rest of the chapters follow in footsteps of the first with powerful facts and details.

-- Abud Albakri

1 comment:

  1. really abud? finding nemo?
    according to shubin, we're nemo's descendants
    or something like that

    yeah i like how the geographical aspects are all topsy-turvy.

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