The Daily Ardmoreite. [volume] (Ardmore, Okla.) 1893-current, 1896-06-16

How Evolution Has Affected Certain 6pa-
oIeS-FrOgs Are Poorly Equipped. Yst
They Get n Living EasIIy-cats Lead the
Predatory Glasses.
Certain snakes Of medium size carry
the most deadly weapon, whethC Of Of
fense or defense, owned by any animal
In addition they have the poW ct YER
tebrate structure which Sir Richard
Owen so much admired, and can there
fore swim, climb and make their way
in places where no other animal of sim
liar size can go. They are the best
equipped animals of their kind. Side
by side with these are found snakes Of
similar sizo and equal powers, except
that they lack the invincible lethal
weapon They only carry blank car
tridges in the battle of life. Evolution
seems arrested for no reason They not
only fail to grow the poison tooth, but
do not develop the power of crushing
their prey as the constructors do. It
would be far easier for a common grass
snake to kill frog by poison before
eating it, as the cobra does. than TO
have to swallow it alive. 1t would save
it trouble to crush it, as a young boa
constructor of the same size would do,
but it does neither, because it neither
has developed, nor seems in the least
likely TO develop. the necessary equip
ment for so doing.
BY the theory Of evolution the grass
snake ought therefore to 60 back i'm the
world, while the other common English
snake, the poisonous viper, armed with
a weapon, powerful as protection and
a means of killing prey, increased in
size and numbers and took its place.
Yet this is exactly what has not hap
pened. Grass snakes are larger and more
numerous than adders, and there is no
evidence that the absence Of the poison
fangs in any way endangers the survival
of the species
1t is difficult to account for the alb.
sence of any visible failure in life Of in
sect feeding creatures competing for ex-
istence on the same food, but with such
unequal physical means for obtaining it
as are possessed by the swallow, the
marmoset, the shrew, the chameleon
and the frog In this list of five crea-
lures living upon similar food we find
that the physical appliances for obtain
ing it range from the perfect develop
ment of speed III flight in the swallow,
the addition Of hands for capture in the
marmoset, bodily quickness and activity
in the shrew, the power Of assuming
color exactly similar to that Of environ
ment in the chameleon, supplemented
/ by n special apparatus for shooting out
/ the tongue and capturing insects when
motiOnless, to the absence Of any special
/ equipment at all, except that Of rather
/ long tongue, in the insect eating frog.
Yet the frog. destitute Of all these
| specialized appliances, lives just as well
as the swallow, the shrew, the marmo-
set or the chameleon, and at least one
species, the barking frog, finds that TO
get ON in the world it has only to be
still and wait till creatures walk into
its mouth It has acquired skin color
suited to its environment and a large
mouth. But it is not, and could never
be, considered well provided for getting
its living
II Our estimate Of the physical means
and appliances necessary for the survival
and well being Of animals is probably
set too high. We judge the needs Ct all
from the perfect development and &C
quired powers Of many, perhaps OF
most, which evolution has provided
with appliances in excess Of their real
wants. Most animals are overequipped.
Evolution has run riot and provided
them with means and metal far in ex.
cess Of their needs, Just as it has provid'
ed them with an exuberance Of orna'
ment which delights US. but must al
ready have passed beyond animal com
prehension.
Probably the cats, great and HLnall
would at once be named as the bes
equipped of all classes of pAedatory
creatures, and the predatory creatures arr
by necessity superior in most forms q
physique to those ON which they prey
They are all built" on one plan, witt
a special armament Of teeth, sheaths Il
keep their claws sharp. muscles fol
springing suddenly to great distances
padded feet TO deaden the sound Of thei
movements and color adapted fof con
cealment These acquired appliances an
in excess Of their wants-
The polar bear, which cannot sprinl
and has no sheaths for its claws, an'
has little obvious provision to aid il II
swimming, catches and kills animal
larger than those killed by the tiger AM
can kill them in the water. The vol
> Verene, or glutton, which is heavy, SLOW
4 and has the feet of ferret, gets its liv
ing as a carnivorous animal no less vel
9 than the tiger cats, which have IA
more specialized equipment for thei
work.
2 There is actual evidence from the foa
sill bones of tigers that this excess Q
9 equipment once went further and ha
been discarded as superhuous- An ez
tinct species developed canine teeth O
such enormous size that it has bee
named the ''saber tJothed tiger" Tn