Subj : Re: Why do Romulans have ridges?
To   : rec.arts.sf.tv,rec.arts.startrek.current,alt.tv.star-trek.enterprise,alt.tv.star-trek.next-gen,alt.tv.star-trek.ds9
From : rgorman
Date : Sat Oct 01 2005 23:47:57

From Newsgroup: alt.tv.star-trek.ds9

On Sat, 01 Oct 2005 22:14:28 GMT, "Fozzi" <efor6920@bigpond.net.au>
wrote:


>> So why the ridges?  2000 years is NOT a long enough time to evolve a
>> whole new species.
>>
>> troy
>>
>
>Actually 20 generations are more than enough to evolve a whole new species, 
>(and 2000 years would be about right for that with such a long lived 
>species) especially if there was any selective breeding policies during that 
>time, which with what weve seen of romulans is not at all unlikely. 
>Intensity of selective pressure is more important than time passed, per se.
>

Of course the mistake is assuming that simply having a thicker
forehead makes you a separate species in the first place.  Star Trek
has rendered the concept of species nonsensical in the first place by
doing things like letting Romulans and Klingons interbreed freely.
But even so, a minor phenotypical variation is nothing.  Consider the
differences between a borzoi and a pit bull or a dachsund and a
poodle.  And yet they're the same species.

.