\ Visualizing Evolution: Time for some fish evolution comics!

Thursday, May 8, 2008

Time for some fish evolution comics!

I love Cectic and I love Tiktaalik. Therefore, I love this cartoon:
And as long as we're looking at cartoons about the missing link between fish and tetrapods......both by the amazing Gary Larson, of course, who I really wish would come out of retirement. Aw, what the heck, one more: (from Perry Bible Fellowship)
There will be a post later about iconic images of evolution, one of which is the lobe-finned fish triumphantly crawling out of the water. And for some reason, it always seems the fish is drawn with water to the left and land to the right. Speaking of Tiktaalik, here's a non-comic example from the NY Times article on the find:
Left to right, again! The same is true of the common March of Progress drawings, which always show a man walking towards the right followed by a procession of his more and more hairy and hunched-over ancestors. I don't think this is a coincidence. After all, any time you draw a timeline, the past is to the left and the future to the right. And in this culture at least, we read from left to right. So it only makes sense that evolutionary progression should be drawn left-to-right, as well.

I almost forgot Ray Troll!

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

omg, you captured the real essence of evolution in those cartoons, with all the missing information found within even the greatest of theories evolution plays out like a truly bizarre and richly decorated cartoon. Thanks for the laughs,

C.M.

Anonymous said...

Synapomorhy. Great blog!

O.o

Flexe said...

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Flexe said...

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