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Fainting goats; ...ever seen this?
Topic Started: Jul 31 2006, 12:39 PM (198 Views)
The 89th Key
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I know I probably shouldn't laugh, but I can't help it.... :lol:

http://www.compfused.com/directlink/765/
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ivorythumper
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I am so adjective that I verb nouns!
I wonder how a Darwinian would explain that?
The dogma lives loudly within me.
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Moonbat
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Pisa-Carp
Well the "there are scores of breeders who want them just the way they are", is an obvious angle for investigation. Perhaps people deliberately picked goats out with this mutation for the ease of rearing in much the same way we've used selective breeding to increase other traits we want (like fatter animals).

Alternatively there may be a hidden selective advantage, cystic fibrosis and cycle cell anaemia both look like pretty useless traits, but infact the mechanisms responsible are actually selected for in certain environments (high levels of malaria and cholera respectively).

Now feinting at the first sign of danger seems like a pretty big disadvantage so if this trait did evolve without the application of human selection perhaps it did so in an environment lacking preditators. (or perhaps the feigning death aspect might actually be an advantage vs. predators though that sounds a bit far-fetched having watched them)
Entia non sunt multiplicanda praeter necessitatem
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The 89th Key
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Here we go. :popcorn:
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ivorythumper
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I am so adjective that I verb nouns!
Thanks, I knew I could count on you! :wink:
The dogma lives loudly within me.
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AlbertaCrude
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History of Tennessee Fainting Goats
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stu
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Junior Carp
I want one :)
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