Jannia, the poison-delivery-method is pretty complex, too. It’s amazing they didn’t develop a stinger, or legs, as well. They had to have a gland to produce the poison, a sac to store it, and the hypodermic needle-like teeth to inject it.
I can’t imagine any of them serving a function alone.
Perhaps the rattles started appearing, and snakes started shaking them. Or perhaps they started using a shaking tail to distract predators and prey, and then those wierd mutant rattles came in handy.
We still see genetic mutations, and should one of them prove more useful, eventually, it will become dominant and more pronounced.
Reading “The Evolution Of Desire” was a huge turning point in my thought process.
Either way, it’s fascinating.
P.S. I’ve been lost on this blog at work for the last week or two. Great work, even the commentors have more interesting thunks to think than most blog authors.
Tom makes an excellent point.
eats a baby and fornicates with a goat.
Thank Satan for my moral guidelines.
(Doesn’t Leviticus condemn eaters of shellfish and wearers of polycotton blends right next to homosexuals? Why aren’t there picket lines at Red Lobster and Ralph Lauren? Doesn’t it also outline that having sex with your slaves is ok, as long as you compensate the buyer for any depreciation you caused by doing so?)