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Saturday afternoon science show: Pigs love mud because we all evolved from fish

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“Pigs have ‘evolved to love mud'”, Victoria Gill explains (BBC News, 29 April 2011). Dutch researcher Marc Bracke from Wageningen University and Research Centre theorizes that

… the behaviour could have evolved in pigs’ most ancient relatives.”We all evolved from fish, so it could be that this motivation to be in water could be something that was preserved in animals that are able to do so.”

For many animals, this would be too dangerous, because watering holes are ideal places for predators to ambush their prey.

“But pigs, like many carnivores, are relatively large animals with enlarged canine teeth, so they would be better able to fend off an attack.”
So rather than pigs needing to cool down in mud because they do not have [functional] sweat glands, Dr Bracke thinks that they “did not evolve functional sweat glands like other ungulates because they liked wallowing so much”.

He points out that pigs are related to whales and hippos and that the behavior is probably a “hardwired” preference for shallow water that” could have been a turning point in the evolution of whales from land-dwelling mammals.”

However, some think pigs evolved to love snow:

A herd of 25 to 30 feral pigs is tearing up backyards and scaring locals and tourists near Christina Lake in B.C.”Nothing about them is very pleasant. There are emails going back and forth from people who are concerned that they could get confrontational and aggressive,” said Grace McGregor, regional district director for the area, which is north of Grand Forks on Highway 3.

“I’m very, very concerned about people out walking and hiking. I certainly don’t want anything happening to anyone.”

The pigs are believed to have escaped from a farm in the area a few years ago.

– Tracy Sherlock, “Feral pigs pose threat to hikers”, Vancouver Sun (March 21, 2011)

Some are struck by how swiftly and successfully  the highly bred domestic pigs reverted to an apparent feral condition.

Comments
Huh. This is explains my strange obsession with bananas.tragic mishap
May 1, 2011
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grr... working link not. pigs revolt against web links. see if works this: http://www.google.com/search?tbm=isch&hl=en&source=hp&biw=1680&bih=869&q=flying+pigs&gbv=2&aq=f&aqi=g10&aql=&oq=Mung
April 30, 2011
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ok, so I was wrong. I thought that pigs did not evolve functional sweat glands like other ungulates because they love to fly. Flying PigsMung
April 30, 2011
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I will definitely stay tuned and If I feel I can contribute in a meaningful way... I certainly will. I have learned, in the past months, that nit-picking is the prime weapon of the other side's choosing. Picking apart grammar or minor semantics as opposed to facts and evidence. Btw the article about scotland might be of interest to your debate. those scots seem to understand both theories excellently.MedsRex
April 30, 2011
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Chicka-boom, chicka-boom- don't ya just love it Strange how my opponent says he would rather deal with facts and data and then disregards both. But it ain't over yet as we both have rebuttals due next Friday, followed by a closing statement. So stay tuned- or better yet get involved!Joseph
April 30, 2011
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Joseph, So you lost because your opponent and his cronies only know one definition of evolution; continues to bring up hardly related red herring quotes, documents and some scientist's particular religious beliefs; then bashes metrics he obviously doesn't begin to understand? Hmmmm.MedsRex
April 30, 2011
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Well Intelligent Design is anti-evolution so ID didn't have anything to do with pigs evolving to love mud. How do I know ID I anti-evolution? I just happened to be involved in an on-line debte aboutn that very topic and by reading the evolutionists' comments I lost. ;) Here is my opening and here is the post that "proves" ID is ati-evolution Any thoughts? Anyone home?Joseph
April 30, 2011
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