Monarch migration, Che in Cuba St

Blogging here
until tblog gets its archiving back
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Biology musings:
Migration
How does a half-gram butterfly migrate 2000 miles to a grove of fir trees it has never seen?
One thing is certain, it is NOT using a list of landmarks.
Evolution seems to have over-developed the migration instinct
Whales,seals,albatross,terns,butterflies,caribou.
This tilted seasonal globe has hordes of animals scuttling from one end to the other.
Why is major navigation so easy for animals? (animals includes insects for purposes of discussion)


Metamorphosis
Some diverse animals have similar larval stages,
some similar animals have very different larval stages.
Lyn Margulis suggests they are combinations of separate genomes.
A larva that provides a safe spot for pupal germination might host a variety of adult genomes.
Use divers environments, disperse via the adult stage.

As Bill Hamilton pointed out, life has two basic urges
reproduce and disperse.
Humans are good at both. But dispersal is not migration.
Magnets, polarised light, nobody knows.
yet another reason why extinctions are a tragedy
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Regis Debray - did he squeal?

Che on Cuba St
photo by Taniwha



float in Cuba St http://photos4.flickr.com/5453944_070b1f9fb9.jpg