The Taltos and the Theory of Evolution
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| Out of Africa |
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 Chart |
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| Educational Poster of Human Evolution |
Natural Selection on Wikipedia
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.
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| Human DNA |
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%.
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| DNA Replication |
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| Human Karyotype |
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.
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| Human Double Helix |
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.
Y'ALL!
"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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