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 : Fozzi Date : Sun Oct 02 2005 15:26:06 From Newsgroup: alt.tv.star-trek.ds9 wrote in message news:1128249171.993313.99770@o13g2000cwo.googlegroups.com... >> > On Sat, 01 Oct 2005 22:14:28 GMT, "Fozzi" >> >>Actually 20 generations are 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 > > . > > 2000 years is enough time to evolve a new species??? Oooo-kay. > Genetically, even though human beings passed through an intense/deadly > dark age including a 33% lethal plague, I'm no different than a human > being from the Roman Republic. Evolution doesn't happen that fast for > complex organisms. > > > It really doesn't make sense for Romulans to look different. American > Indians were separated from their native north-Asian homeland for > ~15,000 years, but they are still the same species. > Actually there are minor differences, but i agree that non of them are of any particular significance, but you are missing a key logical point here. Just because something doesn't happen doesnt mean it cant, just because it can doesnt mean it will, As i said, selective pressure is more important than time, and the black death did have a significant effect on the evolution of European, North African and west asian peoples, those that were left were those whose bodies fought off the disease, as a result populations from those geographical locations (sans occasional random mutations to the contrary) are now significantly more resistant to it, now if a westerner gets a buebonic or pnuemonic bug the symptoms are somewhat akin to a very severe flu, still potentially fatal if you are unlucky, but not generally so. To your last point, still the same species yes, but there are now significant differences between American Indians and the tenguske peoples they originated from, coverage of body hair being one of the most obvious. Cheers Fozzi PS by the way a complex organism in scientific terms refers to pretty much everythin above an amoeba .