2y ago

Dolphins and orcas have passed the evolutionary point of no return to ever live on land again

www.livescience.com

Dolphins and orcas have passed the evolutionary point of no return to live on land again

16 comments

I don't understand. Are dolphins campaigning for land rights or something?
Maybe that's the problem, they can't hold signs to protest. Perhaps if we figured out a way to help them hold signs they'd be able to live on land again.
Before we get to that point, has anyone asked a dolphin if they want to live on land?
- I don't understand. Are dolphins campaigning for land rights or something?
  This made me laugh harder than I'm willing to admit
im ok with the lack of land orcas
- Behind you! A land tuna!
  Ah chill, it's looking for lion meat.
  
  Those land tuna have set up a series of beach heads, and now the lions are as good as extinct.
From the photo it looks like they're taking the news pretty well
- What do you mean, they're swimming in their tears in the picture!
Reading the study (the actual paper, not the linked article), it seems expected and sensible.
A conjecture is that aquatic adaptation is not reversible because there are already animals on land that can out-compete animals attempting to adapt back onto land (similar to how there have been very few transitions from aquatic to land in the first place).
Of course, in actuality this does not mean the transition from aquatic to terrestial is not reproducible, just that it would require a removal of the prohibiting factor such as a mass extinction event killing off most or all life on land.
- Well, since mass extinctions are around the corner, I guess there could be a chance! Once we've cooked the earth, maybe the next global apex comes from the ocean.
  
  Mass exctincrions aren't "around the corner," they're just a part of life on Earth. They've happened several times before, and they will probably continue to happen. It's not a coming thing--it's the reason mammals rule the Earth right now, and why almost all life uses oxygen.
All life started in the sea. Transitioning back to semi-aquatic or fully aquatic has happened many times. Is it possible to transition back? According to these researches, it seems like a one way gate. The types of changes that land animals make to become fully aquatic again seem to lock a lineage into the water forever. Increased body mass and carnivorous diet are helpful going back to water but make it really hard to go back to land and redevelop mobility.
- Eh, land has been getting shitter lately. I might go. You wanna go..? Anyway I'm gonna go 🏊‍♂️
Stay on your side of the beach, rapists
- Unnecessary.

16 comments