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13 June 2008
*This page is going to be in a constant state of development, given the subject matter. The webmistress
realizes evolution in and of itself is a controversial subject and asks for patience and maturity when reading what is written
here. Thank you.
Introduction - Evolution and Natural
Selection
Evolution has no moral guideposts. It is neither good nor bad. However, there
is quite a bit of debate about evolution as an acceptable explanation of how life continues, and much of it is based
upon the assumption of what evolution ought to be.
The theory of evolution does not necessarily explain the point of origin from which all life came; it merely attempts
to explain how life continues through adaptations from the process of natural selection. Natural selection is the vehicle
that drives evolution, from microevolution that can work across generations to macroevolution that works across species.
Natural selection occurs as a result of selective pressure, wherein pressure from the species' environment such as food
sources, mate selection and predation create a situation where alleles that express traits which allow individuals within
a species to survive within the given environment are selected for by selecting against traits that leave individuals
vulnerable to food shortage, predation and lack of mates by which to pass their genes along.
A famous example of natural selection is the moths in England that, in order to escape being picked off by predators,
had to carry alleles that expressed a trait for darker body and wing color so as to camoflage themselves within the layers
of soot from the industrial plants. Those moths who did not express this trait were easily spotted by predators as they
still expressed for their lighter coloring. As emissions from the plants were reduced, the level of soot coating on
the external environment was also reduced, removing the need for darker coloring. Those moths who carried alleles for
the lighter color and passed it along to their offspring passed on the ability to express the trait and so those who were
of lighter coloring were able to survive in the cleaner environment. The darker moths were then the ones easily
spotted by predators.
It is possible to carry alleles on a gene that do not express, and most of us are unaware that we carry certain traits
inherited from our parents unless and until an environmental pressure triggers their expression. Alleles are carried
on genes, which are grouped on particular chromosomes in our DNA. We are capable of inheriting quite a bit and yet only
expressing a set amount of traits. We inherit these genes from our parents; hence, children tend to resemble their parents
in ways obvious and not so obvious.
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Evolution on Wikipedia
Natural Selection on Wikipedia
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Evolution and the Genes of the Taltos
This seems to be the theory that Anne Rice has based the Taltos upon and how the Mayfair
Witches can carry a full set of chromosomes that are visible on their individual karyotypes which are not activated unless
they are exposed to conditions that would activate them.
Humans and Taltos appeared to be two separate species, and reproductive isolation is the theory that states
that cross-species reproduction would render offspring unable to reproduce themselves should they reach an age where
reproductive maturity would be possible in either species. Offspring of cross-species reproduction would be so genetically
vulnerable that it would be unlikely that this offspring could even survive to reproduce.
DNA on Wikipedia
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Reproduction Between Taltos and Humans
This is not ignored where cross-species reproduction between humans and Taltos is concerned.
A human with only 46 chromosomes on the DNA strand is incapable of producing a Taltos because the chromosomal pairing at conception
is incompatible. Also, because the Taltos species has a greatly accelerated pregnancy during which distinct adult features
are present in utero, making a Taltos far more independent than a human infant, and because of the enormous demand upon the
mother for nutrients and resources during gestation, a human mother with an incompatible genetic blueprint is unable to support
reproduction of a Taltos, resulting in her body expelling the fetus and causing violent contractions and uterine hemorrhaging,
a demand upon a human mother that is most often fatal. In short, she is unable to produce an offspring that can survive
to reproduce, and her resources to support its gestation are far too limited.
However, human mothers who do have the extra set of chromosomes compatible with the Taltos, such as Rowan and Mona Mayfair,
are capable of producing Taltos offspring that survive, but the cost to the human mother is enormous. Both Rowan and
Mona, whose resources have been dangerously depleted by their respective pregnancies, deteriorate considerably. Rowan
must undergo a full hysterectomy or die of uterine hemorrhaging and is still comatose and unlikely to survive - until Emaleth
arrives with her breasts full of milk.
The Necessity of Breast Milk for
Taltos to Survive
The Taltos milk is full of far more nutrients than human breast milk, which is necessary for a Taltos to reach its full
height and development so rapidly. Without it, the Taltos will not survive far past infancy. It is this infusion
of nutrients that restores Rowan to health. Unfortunately, Mona is not so fortunate, and as a result of her pregnancy
(her uterus was left intact after the birth), her fertility multiplied as her fecundity rapidly diminished. Even after
she stopped having sex with so many cousins (the "selective pressure" that triggered such rampant ovulation), the damage had
been done, and she wasted away until she was nearly dead by the time she arrived at Blackwood Farm.
It should be noted that while Taltos pregnancies in human mothers are almost always fatal (Rowan and ancestors at Fontevrault,
whom Dolly Jean Mayfair says referred to their monstrous offspring as "Walking Babies" are the notable exceptions), Taltos
females who conceive by human fathers do not bear viable Taltos offspring, if they bear at all. Emaleth conceived by
the man in the tavern and while she lost the pregnancy, she was able to express breast milk. The Taltos of the Glen
of Donnelaith, whose females were mated with by human males to rapidly produce warriors, ended up producing what became the
Little People, who in turn were capable of producing Taltos - with another Taltos.
Reproductive Isolation
Reproductive isolation is not always a guaranteed barrier between two species fairly close together reproducing; it simply
is a way of selecting against it due to the likelihood that the offspring will be unable to reproduce or even to thrive.
The twist in the Taltos, however, is that while humans and chimpanzees are approximately 97% similar in chromosomal structure,
humans and Taltos are only about 40%.
Reproductive Isolation on Wikipedia
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Mutations and the Taltos
As Dr. Mitch Flanagan told Dr. Samuel Larkin, the offspring Rowan produced, Lasher, is not
even a mutation. It is possible that humans and Taltos shared a common ancestor as humans and chimps do, but the result
is that the Taltos had its own evolution over time. Since the Taltos have skeletons formed out of something like cartilage,
it is no surprise that no evidence exists of their origins in the fossil record. Mutations, as a general rule, are often
the result of deleterious genes expressing and do not express traits that enable the individual to really survive to reproduce.
The Taltos, obviously, were more than able to do that. They were fairly advanced enough to be able to learn
language and form social connections and kinships. However, their vulnerability was their gentle nature - it left them
prey to a far more aggressive species - Homo sapiens. Taltos have an extremely long lifespan, where as in humans,
this is not the case. There is much that can be said about the differences between Taltos and humans in the context
of their vastly different lifespans and their vulnerability to illness and injury.
The Taltos and the Ancestry of
the Mayfair Witches
In the case of the Mayfair Witches and the inherited giant helix, it is known that it was most likely in the Mayfair
genetic blueprint as far back as Deborah and Suzanne. Suzanne may or may not have had the giant helix herself but it
is clear that the man with whom she had her daughter Deborah, the Earl of Donnelaith, did. This is established when
Lasher tells his tale of having been born to "the witch Boleyn" and Douglas of Donnelaith.
Lasher's nature and significance are known to the nobleman, who brings Lasher back to Donnelaith as St. Ashlar come again.
To his mother, Anne Boleyn, he is only a monstrous offspring that ultimately cost her her life. However, it is clear
that her DNA was compatible with Douglas of Donnelaith which was how she was able to produce Lasher to begin with.
Had she lived, she might have had the same wasting disease that almost killed Mona Mayfair over 400 years later.
Mutations on Wikipedia
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Conclusion on Links Between
Taltos and the Mayfair Witches
Given that Douglas of Donnelaith was also an ancestor of Deborah Mayfair, it is most
likely that there were Taltos ancestors in the family tree of the Earls of Donnelaith. How could this have happened?
How is it that the Taltos genes got into the DNA of humans later on? Is it possible that a human mother and a Taltos
male somehow produced offspring that were more human than Taltos? Perhaps the sexes were switched and the Taltos mother
somehow produced a human male who happened to have the extra set of chromosomes? Given the variation between offsprings,
any of these would have been a likely scenario.
The result was that the extra chromosomes survived in the Earls of Donnelaith and their descendants, and survived to
be carried by Deborah Mayfair, who then passed them on to her descendants - the Mayfair Witches.
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The Survival of the Fittest Myth
"Survival of the Fittest" is not a term coined by Charles Darwin. It is Spencerian,
a sort of bastardized form of Darwinism that claimed, foolishly, that those who were of high society and wealth were
so because of superior genetics. The poor and middle-classes were beneath them "genetically" and, they claimed, therefore
unable to rise to the upper classes because they were genetically inferior. Evolutionists who are engaged in academic
and scientific research roundly reject this phrase.
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