rationalskepticism.org

In line with Calli's colour speciation proposal, one minor point, without a predator being included in the mix there will be no pressure for colour change to occur. As such, and I hope I'm not intruding I would make a different suggestion. Take a large square tank place rock formations in each corner. Now I have gone for four here because I think it would lead to a more interesting experiment, I would also introduce a few extra factors to allow for more widely varied speciation. So lets introduce our four rock formations, A, B,C and of course D. Now lets make A a control, standard rock formation, and standard feeding procedure, expected result, fish remain unchanged. B, lighter coloured rocks and lets drop the food some way from the safety of the formation at the same time every day (to allow the predator to become familiar), expected result, the fish will not only become lighter but due to the nature of the food delivery should become faster. C darker rocks, food placed at base of tank, expected result darker colour plus the fish devolop a tendency towards a lower depth. D, this is the one that I would be very interested in, bright green rocks, create an artificial barrier that allows the fish to see and observe the predator but no interaction, expected result, bright green fish perhaps, but most definately fish without basic fear reflexes to the presence of a predator. Now the reason I choose these three sets of conditions are because they help demonstrate how fish as varied as the marlin (speed) and the angler fish (depth) can share a common ancestry, it would also be a wonderful demonstration of the factors that led to the dodo being so spectacularly useless.