# An Open Letter to the Evolutionary Committee **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [March 9, 2005, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-open-letter-to-the-evolutionary-committee/293600 "2005-03-09T00:23:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2005, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-open-letter-to-the-evolutionary-committee/293600/21 "2005-03-09T22:00:08Z")
> [@Cervaise](#): > > tying them in a knot while you’re sleeping. YOu’ve been reading Keith Laumer. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![OtakuLoki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ac8455/32.png) [@OtakuLoki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OtakuLoki)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2005, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-open-letter-to-the-evolutionary-committee/293600/22 "2005-03-09T22:43:29Z")
You make it sound like this is a baaad thing. 😉 And for all you people insisting that there is no _rational_ seperation on a genus scale between humans and apes, I **do** agree. Just being snarky by pointing out that there are serious taxonomic schema out there that place the apes and humans in seperate geni. Chauvinists. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2005, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-open-letter-to-the-evolutionary-committee/293600/23 "2005-03-10T00:03:59Z")
> [@Darwin's Finch](#): > > Then there’s the “flying lemur”, which neither flies, nor is it a lemur (it’s a dermopteran!). Not to mention the elephant shrew, which is neither an elephant nor a shrew. ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2005, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-open-letter-to-the-evolutionary-committee/293600/24 "2005-03-10T00:05:03Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > YOu’ve been reading Keith Laumer. 🙂 Is he a Ring-Tailed Laumer? ---
**Author:** ![coffeecat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/coffeecat/32/3405_2.png) [@coffeecat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/coffeecat)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2005, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-open-letter-to-the-evolutionary-committee/293600/25 "2005-03-10T00:27:07Z")
To hijack the thread in yet another direction, I surfed some on that Visual Evolution web page, and with a little practice, [this lady](http://www.visual-evolution.com/images/poly/12_fingers.jpg) could be a kick-ass guitar player. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2005, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-open-letter-to-the-evolutionary-committee/293600/26 "2005-03-10T00:34:51Z")
> [@Biffy the Elephant Shrew](#): > > Is he a Ring-Tailed Laumer? You can’t tell from the pictures. [http://www.geocities.com/keithlaumer2002/](http://www.geocities.com/keithlaumer2002/) ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2005, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-open-letter-to-the-evolutionary-committee/293600/27 "2005-03-10T00:50:39Z")
> [@Cervaise](#): > > Seems to me the biggest problem with eyeballs on stalks is worrying about some fratboy prankster tying them in a knot while you’re sleeping. Ha! [http://www.alteredearth.com/farley/farart26.htm](http://www.alteredearth.com/farley/farart26.htm) ---
**Author:** ![OtakuLoki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ac8455/32.png) [@OtakuLoki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OtakuLoki)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2005, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-open-letter-to-the-evolutionary-committee/293600/28 "2005-03-10T01:29:21Z")
> [@coffeecat](#): > > To hijack the thread in yet another direction, I surfed some on that Visual Evolution web page, and with a little practice, [this lady](http://www.visual-evolution.com/images/poly/12_fingers.jpg) could be a kick-ass guitar player. Usually such ‘deformities’ are amputated at, or shortly after, birth AIUI. Granted, most cases of polydactylia (I _think_ that’s the term) involve partial, or non-functioning, digits. But it still seems like a bit of a Tyranny of the Norm. BTW, as the OP, I have no objection to hijacks. As long as the mods don’t mind, take things wherever you want. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2005, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-open-letter-to-the-evolutionary-committee/293600/29 "2005-03-10T03:06:29Z")
> [@Cervaise](#): > > Well, think about it. The squirmy part of contacts is learning how to stick your finger in your eye to install the lens. But if your eyeballs are on prehensile stalks, this is no longer necessary; you can place the lens on any flat surface, and then lower your eyeball onto it. Problem solved. > > Seems to me the biggest problem with eyeballs on stalks is worrying about some fratboy prankster tying them in a knot while you’re sleeping. I think they’d have to be retractable. They’d moved independently and be very bendy, so they could be used to indicate emotions, like eyebrows. Is it just me, or does anyone else find the mutations like tails and extra fingers a little…off-putting? ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2005, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-open-letter-to-the-evolutionary-committee/293600/30 "2005-03-10T03:21:40Z")
> [@featherlou](#): > > Is it just me, or does anyone else find the mutations like tails and extra fingers a little…off-putting? I dunno, I met a girl who had a thing for hooks. ---
**Author:** ![Triskadecamus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b19c9b/32.png) [@Triskadecamus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Triskadecamus)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2005, 3:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-open-letter-to-the-evolutionary-committee/293600/31 "2005-03-10T03:51:43Z")
I think polydactylia is extra fingers, not tails. Tris ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2005, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-open-letter-to-the-evolutionary-committee/293600/32 "2005-03-10T03:55:52Z")
> [@Triskadecamus](#): > > I think polydactylia is extra fingers, not tails. Indeed, Dr. Lector was polydactyl and had a finger removed, better to hide as a serial killer. ---
**Author:** ![Askance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/askance/32/8281_2.png) [@Askance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askance)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2005, 4:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-open-letter-to-the-evolutionary-committee/293600/33 "2005-03-10T04:34:45Z")
> [@Triskadecamus](#): > > I think polydactylia is extra fingers, not tails. Indeed, and “extra fingers” is exactly what post #28 was talking about. ---
**Author:** ![Triskadecamus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b19c9b/32.png) [@Triskadecamus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Triskadecamus)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2005, 4:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-open-letter-to-the-evolutionary-committee/293600/34 "2005-03-10T04:58:24Z")
Well, who the heck wants to talk about fingers, in a thread about tails! ---
**Author:** ![Darwins\_Finch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darwins_finch/32/20304_2.png) [@Darwins\_Finch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darwins_Finch)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2005, 7:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-open-letter-to-the-evolutionary-committee/293600/35 "2005-03-10T07:01:35Z")
> [@OtakuLoki](#): > > polydactylia (I _think_ that’s the term) [Polydactyly](http://www.accessexcellence.org/RC/VL/GG/polydactyly.html) ---
**Author:** ![roger\_thornhill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/d9b06d/32.png) [@roger\_thornhill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/roger_thornhill)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2005, 7:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-open-letter-to-the-evolutionary-committee/293600/36 "2005-03-10T07:14:55Z")
> [@Darwin's Finch](#): > > Then there’s the “flying lemur”, which neither flies, nor is it a lemur (it’s a dermopteran!). Then there’s the “butterfly”, which doesn’t taste so good on baked potatoes and doesn’t actually fly. It flutters. Or the “hippopotamus”, which is neither hip nor a horse. ---
**Author:** ![sturmhauke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e47c2d/32.png) [@sturmhauke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sturmhauke)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2005, 9:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-open-letter-to-the-evolutionary-committee/293600/37 "2005-03-10T09:38:58Z")
The fish stick is neither a fish nor a stick. It is a fungus. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2005, 12:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-open-letter-to-the-evolutionary-committee/293600/38 "2005-03-10T12:47:34Z")
> [@sturmhauke](#): > > …fish stick is…a fungus. _Finally_ we get to something important! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2005, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-open-letter-to-the-evolutionary-committee/293600/39 "2005-03-10T17:10:28Z")
Hey, some of my favourite foods are fungi. Mmm, tasty foods grown in poo. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-open-letter-to-the-evolutionary-committee/293600.md?page=1)