“It means there was an elaborate machinery in place that already had some function. What I want to know now is what were all these genes doing prior to the advent of sponge.” -- Charles Marshall, director of the University of California Museum of Paleontology in Berkeley.
Good question! Wait a minute. This guy is probably a Creationist. In which case, stupid question!
They probably were just another "fluke bordering on the miraculous" waiting to arise.
Tune of "Blackbird":
Soggy sponges in the dead of night
Take those unformed wings and learn to fly
All your life you were only waiting for this moment to arise
Soggy sponges in the dead of night
Take these unformed eyes and learn to see
All your life you were only waiting for those genes to be set free
Sponges fly, sponges fly
Into the light of the dark black night.
h/t Uncommon Descent.
