"There are a lot of friction pads around, and they accomplish pretty much of the same thing," he says. "So I wonder what extra capacity these gears confer. They're rather specialized, and there are lots of other jumpers that don't have them, so there must be some kind of advantage."
I think he's got that back to front. It's more likely the gears provide little or no advantage, which is why nothing else is known to have them.
That said, there's only one species on the planet that has electric toothbrushes, so it's not the perfect argument. (Hopefully.)
(no subject)
Date: 2013-12-27 10:33 pm (UTC)"There are a lot of friction pads around, and they accomplish pretty much of the same thing," he says. "So I wonder what extra capacity these gears confer. They're rather specialized, and there are lots of other jumpers that don't have them, so there must be some kind of advantage."
I think he's got that back to front. It's more likely the gears provide little or no advantage, which is why nothing else is known to have them.
That said, there's only one species on the planet that has electric toothbrushes, so it's not the perfect argument. (Hopefully.)