https://phys.org/news/2024-05-fossil-captures-starfish-million-years.html

"One of the wildest wonders of nature is the ability of some animals to reproduce by splitting in half. There is still so much we don't know about this process. So the discovery of a 155-million-year-old starfish fossil frozen partway through this process, published in a new study, could give scientists incredible new insights.

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"The starfish, or asteroid, is part of a group of animals called the echinoderms or spiny skinned animals that also includes sea lilies, sea urchins and sea cucumbers. They are found in almost every corner of our oceans and spend part of their life as microscopic larvae before developing into adults.

"Starfish are among the oldest living animals on our planet. They appeared in a form we would recognize almost 480 million years ago and have survived five mass extinctions.

"The reason for their evolutionary success could be in their ability to reproduce both sexually and asexually—by literally splitting in two and growing into two new animals. This is known as fissiparity. It is still sometimes observed in modern starfish and comes with the advantage of forming numerous offspring in a relatively short time and without "costing" the parent a great amount of energy or time.

"Sexual reproduction, on the other hand, requires starfish and brittle stars to come together in huge numbers to spawn. The disadvantage of fissiparity is that this type of reproduction can result in a lack of genetic diversity in the population.

"Biologists call the process of splitting in two parts fragmentation. Only a small number of animals can do this. For example, the common garden earthworm, which many gardeners have watched in amazement as one animal suddenly becomes two. Biologists can also watch starfish and brittle stars doing this in their labs or in marine stations.

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"Only a few animals make it into the fossil record, and many of these are in fragments as they often fall apart once the body has decayed. However, Thuy's brittle star discovery appears to show a brittle star in the process of reproducing asexually. The fossil has already been "born." One half of the body appears to be fully developed while the other half shows signs of regeneration with three smaller arms clearly visible."

Comment: Amoeba split in two, so the mechanism existed from the beginning. Sexual activity is highly complex and was an activity that had to be evolved over time. It is not surprising for this is to occur before sex appeared. Earth worms are still doing it from fragments if cut up. From the design viewpoint, the timing makes sense.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204531404577052090769957890.html?KEYWORDS...

New australopithicus, with an almost complete skeleton:
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> http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/09/110908104159.htm-Further discussion about the new ancestor for humans:-http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v477/n7364/full/477252a.html?WT.ec_id=NATURE-20110915-Australopithecus sedeba skeletons are almost complete of a female and a young male. There is a mixture of newer and older skeletal developments. A broader pelvis allows for bipedal walking and a bigger brain, but the brain is still small. What branch is this?

David: Sex requires aging and death by whatever means. We are stuck with that reality.
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> I shall give it up immediately. - I'm taking bets! And giving odds!

I don't know why you say this is "due to sex" when there are so many other factors involved as well ... carnivorousness, disease, natural disasters, plus all the other survival instincts that have evolved into the selfishness which underlies many of our man-made disasters. - Sorry to have been obtuse, but trying for an economy of words is not always conducive to a clear meaning. Early single-celled forms for 3 billion years reproduced by simply splitting in two (binary fission). Essentially there was no death. When sex appeared, it required aging and death, and this event is probably at the Cambrian Explosion were very complicated animal forms appeared, presumably male and female. The Edicaran and Bilatarian forms, which preceded, were very simple, and very likely did not have sex as an issue. Of all the abhorrant factors you list above, the only one that does not lead to death is selfishness(if it does not lead to murder). Sex requires aging and death by whatever manner. We are stuck with that reality. - But a more interesting underlying issue is: how did sex arrive under Darwinian theory? Both sexes had to appear at the same time, or did organisms go through stages of hermaphroditism or parthenogenesis to get to clear sexuality? The latter process does appear in lower forms. But more importantly the Darwin method of evolution must have male and female appear at exacty the same time. Anyone have a just-so story for me to explain that conundrum? - Another issue like the one above that challenges Darwin: When humans got up on both legs, the female pelvis had to change shape, and as human brains grew the female pelvic outlet had to enlarge to accommodate bigger baby heads. The human birth canal is not apelike. There is a 90 degree angle and 180 twist to accomplish. No other primate has that. How is living birth accomplished over, let's say, 6 million years, in humans, with both mother and baby simulateously changing size and shape, each individual with different DNA/RNA? Let's have another just-so story.