Then, as my caffeine-deprived neurons groaned to life, a second
thing came to mind: despite having no legs, nor any need for
legs, dolphins and whales nevertheless have itty bitty legs and
pelvic bones buried, useless, under mounds of blubber. These
rudimentary legs and pelvises are called vestigial structures;
they are relics of the whales' common ancestry with their legged
cousins. The taxi driver seemed intrigued, but, as Heathrow
loomed closer, I could see that he was not going to be
convinced. Gosh, I thought, if only I had a handy dandy photo of
whale pelvises that I could whip out on just such occasions.
Surely such a prop would deftly banish those pesky whiffs of
creationist stubbornness that tend to linger at the ends of such
conversations. If only... If only... Well, warm up your inkjets,
my friends, because today, in a New York Times slide show called
"Bred in the Bone", I found THIS: Meet the striped dolphin,
Stenella coeruleoalba. More to the point, squint your eyes and
meet the striped dolphin's