March 5, 2010
Moths and Joshua Trees Help Each Other Out
The moths pollinate the trees and the trees offer food for the moth
caterpillars.
Moths and Joshua Trees Help Each Other Out
The moths pollinate the trees and the trees offer food for the moth
caterpillars.
SUMMARY: In a valley in Nevada one can find Joshua trees and Yucca moths
giving each other a helping hand. The moths pollinate Joshua tree flowers
even though the flowers contain no nectar. Why do they do it? It's because the
trees allow the female moths to lay their eggs in immature Joshua tree seeds
which become a source of food for moth caterpillars.
This relationship is specialized by region. A slightly larger Yucca moth species
lives in California and central Nevada while a smaller species dominates in
Arizona and southern Nevada. Also, Joshua trees differ, those in areas having
larger moths displaying thicker seed coverings.
Scientists since Darwin have wondered if "co-evolution" as in this example
encourages greater diversity for species, and this study suggest that may be
true.
(Picture of a Joshua tree in Nevada from Wikimedia Commons.)
To read the entire article, click on this link to LIVE SCIENCE.
COMMENT: Situations where two dissimilar species live together and often
cooperate, as in this case of the Joshua trees and the Yucca moths, are
examples of symbiosis. There are many other examples of symbiosis where the
two species need each other, such as the clown fish and the sea anemone or
cattle egrets and large animals such as buffalo and elephants.
In many of these cases evolutionists recognize that the two species could not
have survived without the other. So they have come up with the term
"co-evolution." In other words, the two species put pressure on each other to
"evolve" the features each needed to help the other survive.
For creationists, this raises some interesting questions. How could one
species learn from the other what it needed? How could it have survived
before the other evolved the necessary adaptation? In some cases at least,
wouldn't it have been easier for a species to evolve its own adaptation instead
of relying on another for help? And, of course, how can anything "evolve"
anything with the limitations genetics places on all living things. The idea of
co-evolution seems rather silly.
It is more logical to believe that these mutually beneficial symbiotic
arrangements, at least most of them, have existed from the beginning. God
in His wisdom knew what His creatures needed and gave it to them when He
created them. He also knows what we most need--a Savior from sin. He gave
us this gift when He gave us His only Son, Jesus Christ, who came down to
earth to die for us.
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QUESTION OF THE DAY
How much gold does the U.S. have stored in its reserve?
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those containing alternate views. However, comments containing profanity
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giving each other a helping hand. The moths pollinate Joshua tree flowers
even though the flowers contain no nectar. Why do they do it? It's because the
trees allow the female moths to lay their eggs in immature Joshua tree seeds
which become a source of food for moth caterpillars.
This relationship is specialized by region. A slightly larger Yucca moth species
lives in California and central Nevada while a smaller species dominates in
Arizona and southern Nevada. Also, Joshua trees differ, those in areas having
larger moths displaying thicker seed coverings.
Scientists since Darwin have wondered if "co-evolution" as in this example
encourages greater diversity for species, and this study suggest that may be
true.
(Picture of a Joshua tree in Nevada from Wikimedia Commons.)
To read the entire article, click on this link to LIVE SCIENCE.
COMMENT: Situations where two dissimilar species live together and often
cooperate, as in this case of the Joshua trees and the Yucca moths, are
examples of symbiosis. There are many other examples of symbiosis where the
two species need each other, such as the clown fish and the sea anemone or
cattle egrets and large animals such as buffalo and elephants.
In many of these cases evolutionists recognize that the two species could not
have survived without the other. So they have come up with the term
"co-evolution." In other words, the two species put pressure on each other to
"evolve" the features each needed to help the other survive.
For creationists, this raises some interesting questions. How could one
species learn from the other what it needed? How could it have survived
before the other evolved the necessary adaptation? In some cases at least,
wouldn't it have been easier for a species to evolve its own adaptation instead
of relying on another for help? And, of course, how can anything "evolve"
anything with the limitations genetics places on all living things. The idea of
co-evolution seems rather silly.
It is more logical to believe that these mutually beneficial symbiotic
arrangements, at least most of them, have existed from the beginning. God
in His wisdom knew what His creatures needed and gave it to them when He
created them. He also knows what we most need--a Savior from sin. He gave
us this gift when He gave us His only Son, Jesus Christ, who came down to
earth to die for us.
****************************************************************************************************
Want to be automatically notified each time there is a new post? Just e-mail
your request to [admin@lutheranscience.org].
****************************************************************************************************
QUESTION OF THE DAY
How much gold does the U.S. have stored in its reserve?
****************************************************************************************************
0 Comments
NOTE ON VISITOR COMMENTS: Visitor comments are invited including
those containing alternate views. However, comments containing profanity
or advertisements will not be published. After posting a comment, please
allow several hours for it to appear on the blog.
| LSI stands for the Lutheran Science Institute, an organization of WELS and ELS Lutherans interested in science and health issues with a special emphasis on the creation and evolution controversy. This blog's purpose is to search the Internet to find articles of interest to Christians. Views expressed are those of the author (Warren Krug) and are not necessarily those of the Lutheran Science Institute, Inc. |
More than 8,000 metric tons, far more than
second place Germany's 3,400. At current
prices, the gold is worth around $288 billion.
Source: Parade (February 14, 2010)
second place Germany's 3,400. At current
prices, the gold is worth around $288 billion.
Source: Parade (February 14, 2010)
