BGF wrote in another forum:



"Actually, pax6 is part of the basic genetic toolbox and was actually expressed in the primitive eye. This is not a convergent evolution but rather the multiple use of an ancient tool (as opposed to a recent useless tool such as yourself)."



Dr. Fernald of Stanford University writes:



"It is well known that Pax-6 organizes other structures besides eyes and is even necessary for the onset of various actions outside the nervous system. Also, other genes can cause development of eyes [reviewed in 10]."



Therefore it appears that BGF's info is outdated and/or inaccurate. There is no such thing as "the primitive eye" since eyes of different animal groups evolved independently of each other. The fact that they independently converged on the use of the same gene in most (but not all cases) is proof that convergent evolution of the same strategy is not only possible but probable. Hence if two or more snake lineages have converged on the same strategy of using the same chemical precursors as venom, then it is in perfect accord with known principles of evolution.

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• The Pax-6 gene and the evolution of venom - CKing, Mon Nov 3 16:02:59 2003
• RE: The Pax-6 gene and the evolution of venom - BGF, Mon Nov 3 20:46:06 2003
• RE: The Pax-6 gene and the evolution of venom - CKing, Mon Nov 3 22:10:20 2003
• RE: The Pax-6 gene and the evolution of venom - BGF, Mon Nov 3 22:18:41 2003
• RE: The Pax-6 gene and the evolution of venom - CKing, Mon Nov 3 22:44:42 2003
• RE: The Pax-6 gene and the evolution of venom - BGF, Tue Nov 4 01:42:40 2003
• RE: The Pax-6 gene and the evolution of venom - CKing, Tue Nov 4 09:32:02 2003
• RE: The Pax-6 gene and the evolution of venom - BGF, Tue Nov 4 14:20:49 2003