Life?

Originally posted by twhitehead
A bit of a contradiction there. If it is at an evolutionary stand still no new varieties can possibly arise. If you read the Wikipedia page you will find there are not only several species, varieties withing species and also hybrids. I can recall eating at least three different varieties.

I think the article is clear that eating bananas are at an evolutionary standstill. The new species are essentially man-made.

... I wish I had used mules as an example instead!

Originally posted by wolfgang59
I think the article is clear that eating bananas are at an evolutionary standstill. The new species are essentially man-made.

I have eaten at least three different varieties of banana.
The Wikipedia clearly states that there are several species including a hybrid.
How could new species/varieties be man made except by breeding (thus evolution)? I don't think we have used direct Genetic modification on bananas yet.
The article is simply wrong.

I remember my sister was told by one of her lecturers at university that bananas don't have seeds, so next holiday she went to one of the farms in Livingstone and collected some banana seeds to show him.

... I wish I had used mules as an example instead!
Every mule is genetically unique and is typically the offspring via sexual reproduction of a horse and a donkey. So if you use different breeds of horses or donkey you would get significant genetic diversity.
There are also rare cases of mules having offspring.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mule#Fertility

Originally posted by wolfgang59
I think the article is clear that eating bananas are at an evolutionary standstill. The new species are essentially man-made.

... I wish I had used mules as an example instead!

I doubt if a mule would have been any better.

Mules come in a variety of shapes, sizes and colors. There are mules that resemble quarter horses, huge draft mules, fine-boned racing mules, shaggy pony mules and many more types.

A mule is the offspring of a male donkey and a female horse. Horses and donkeys are different species, with different numbers of chromosomes. Of the two F1 hybrids between these two species, a mule is easier to obtain than a hinny (the offspring of a male horse and a female donkey). While there is no known instance of a male mule siring offspring, female mules have on very rare occasion given birth to viable offspring. The size of a mule and work to which it is put depends largely on the breeding of the mule's dam. Mules can be lightweight, medium weight, or even, when produced from draught horse mares, of moderately heavy weight.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mule

The Instructor

The same kind of things happen in the K-9 family as with Horses / Donkeys.



Manny

Originally posted by twhitehead
The article is simply wrong.

I remember my sister was told by one of her lecturers at university that bananas don't have seeds, so next holiday she went to one of the farms in Livingstone and collected some banana seeds to show him.

[b]... I wish I had used mules as an example instead!
Every mule is genetically unique and is typically the offsp ...[text shortened]... ere are also rare cases of mules having offspring.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mule#Fertility[/b]

I quoted wiki and when you didn't like
that I found a New Scientist article.
You come back with a family anecdote.

🙄

Didn't know mules could reproduce ... what about ligers or tions?