Reverse Evolution Discovered in Seattle Fish

20 May 2008

In the 1950's Lake Washington in Washington state was the local sewage outlet and it caused the waters to become murky. The three-spine stickleback that populated the lake apparently became less visible to predators and therefore was able to survive. In the late 50's the sickleback was observed to have lost some of its “armored plates” yet continued living normally.

In the mid 60's a massive lake cleanup occurred causing the formerly murky waters to become clear again and the once hidden sickleback was now in plain view to predators. Now it has been observed that the armored plates they had previously lost are back.

Katie Peichel, a biologist at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle said, "We call it 'reverse evolution' because the sticklebacks are reverting to an ancestral phenotype [or appearance], that of the marine sticklebacks, which originally founded the lake populations."

Is this evolution? Does this show that the fish are evolving?

The original fish had all the genetic information needed to create the armored plates. The final fish had all the genetic information to create the armored plates. Does this mean the intermediate fish lost that information and then they re-evolved it when they needed it? Of course not. Just because those genes were dormant does not mean they were not there.

This could be an example of natural selection. Natural selection can only select from the genetic information that already exists, it can not create new information to meet a need or want. Survival of the fittest works, but it does not create anything new. Well designed animals with the ability to adapt are a sign of a designer, not evolution.

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2008/05/080520-fish-evolution.html