Feral Hogs

[PairTheBoard]

I think epigenetic effects have always been understood in the sense of the development of the fetus being affected by the environment of the womb. What appears to be happening here is the Wild environment of the Mother is impacting her womb's environment and thus the development of the piglet fetus. The first generation piglets are born with feral characteristics.

PairTheBoard

[Phil153]

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The very next generation is remarkably transformed. I'm not sure, but there may even be transfomative effects in the original hogs that escape.

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Hmm, that is intriguing.

Well, plenty of development is done in response to the environment. Human wisdom teeth never emerge because we don't spend our lives wearing our molars down to the nub chewing on hides. Skin darkens only with exposure to the sun. Who knows, maybe tusks develop only by digging for truffles.

Living in pens, eating from a trough, is immensely different from working for a pig living. I would imagine the lack of environmental stimulus accounts for these extra-selective changes, not some unknown genetic mechanisms.

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No. It just doesn't work like that. After a while, domestic pigs have wild litter born with feral traits. It is not a selective effect and not an effect of the environment after they're born. Something must actually be changing in the frequency or expression of genes in the offspring, as a result of the environmental experiences of the parents.

[Bill Haywood]

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No. It just doesn't work like that....Something must actually be changing... as a result of the environmental experiences of the parents.

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Pray tell us about this new mechanism you have discovered.

But before you do that, read up on Lysenkoism.