Was Ireland the origin of life and evolution? Anthony Woods makes the case that Ireland’s island status changed history.
Islands and evolution go hand in hand. The principle of island evolution, also known as Foster’s Rule, is a widely held scientific view. Islands, particularly ocean islands, are the perfect place for evolution to weave its magic. Islands are natural laboratories that force evolutionary changes. A limited gene-pool, isolated environments, and sharp boundaries all create unique evolutionary pressures which often trigger dramatic changes. This pattern is found on islands all over the world.
The fossil record suggests that evolutionary changes can occur rapidly after a species has become isolated on an island – much faster than on a mainland. A species isolated on a remote ocean island can undergo accelerated evolution in a relatively short space of time – between a few decades and several thousand years. In other words, on an ocean island, a species can take an evolutionary quantum leap and birth a new species. Evolution is not limited to a slow gradual process. Quantum leaps can and do occur in relatively short spaces of time and the most extreme evolutionary changes are found on the smallest, most remote ocean islands.
Evolution: Charles Darwin’s Theory
The Galápagos Islands were the source of Darwin’s theory of evolution and remain a priceless living laboratory for scientists today. Located Six hundred miles off the coast of Ecuador in the Pacific Ocean the volcanic islands are famous for a wealth of unique plants and animals found nowhere else in the world. Island evolution is what Charles Darwin saw on the remote Galapagos Islands where he noticed how the finches on each island had different-sized and shaped beaks perfectly adapted to the unique food sources on each particular island. Those observations led him to publish one of the most famous and revolutionary books ever written, The Origin of Species. The connection between an organism’s genetics and its environment first observed by Darwin on the Galapagos Islands, is the very bedrock of evolutionary biology.
Ireland: An Ocean Island
Ireland is an ocean island with over 1,000 species of native flora and fauna. It also has unique freshwater fish that are not found anywhere else on earth, fish that evolved during the ice age. The Irish hare is unique to Ireland. It is genetically different to its British and European cousins and has been on the island since before the last ice age. The Irish hare possesses a high number of unique genetic characters that are not shared by any other hare species outside of Ireland. This strongly suggests the current Irish hare population could be the only remaining descendants of a much older genetic lineage.
This lineage was probably common in Europe prior to the last Ice age. Although the Irish hare is currently classified as a sub-species of the mountain hare, there is now compelling evidence that it should be given a unique species status in its own right. Even more unique than the Irish Hare is the Golden Rathlin hare. Rathlin Island is a small island in the Atlantic Ocean to the north of county Antrim. These unique golden hares evolved from the original Irish hare within a few decades by developing golden red hair and striking blue eyes.
The Rathlin Island Hare
The Rathlin Island Hare is a remarkable example of rapid island evolution which happened in just a few decades. Irish Hares were first brought to Rathlin for sport by about 1784 and died out after overhunting. They were reintroduced in the 1950s and by the 1970s the first sighting of the new golden blue-eyed hare was made. Since then, multiple sightings have been made as the golden hare population increases each year as hares with stunning golden hair and intensely bright blue eyes are born on the island.
These unique features are not found anywhere else on earth. They are the result of rapid ocean island evolution. The red hair and blue eyes are an adaptation to less sunlight and colder temperatures. Both red hair and blue eyes are recessive genes which means they need to come from both parents ancestry to be expressed in the offspring. The red-haired and blue eyed Rathlin Island Hare is a unique genetic form with not one but two rare recessive genetic mutations. What are the odds of double recessive mutations showing up together in just a few decades?
The Irish Hare
Polar Bears
Here is another fun fact of Irish evolution that few people know. Polar bears evolved in Ireland! Thats right, those magnificent white polar bears can trace their roots all the way back to the Emerald Isle. Using DNA, scientists have now proven that modern polar bears evolved during the last ice age 45,000 years ago after their ancestors mated with the now-extinct Irish Brown Bears. The evidence is in their mitochondrial DNA which is passed from mother to offspring. Extinct ancient polar bears don’t have Irish Bear mitochondrial genes while all modern polar bears do. In that way, the Irish Brown Bear lives on in the DNA of modern polar bears – just as our ancestors live on in our own DNA.
Ireland’s Ice Age History
Irelands ancient history has remained a mystery, largely because it was written by its enemies. Let’s break free from the dogma surrounding Ireland’s Ice Age history. Contrary to popular belief, Ireland was not completely under a massive sheet of ice during the last ice age. Some was but by no means all. This is partly because the warm Gulf Current flowed to Irelands western Atlantic shores just like it still does today, warming the shores and keeping them ice-free.
Plenty of animal bones cut by human tools have recently been carbon-dated to between 18,000 and 33,000 years old, proving that parts of Ireland were ice-free and inhabited at least 33,000 years ago during the peak of the last Ice Age. The implications of this are enormous. Ireland’s entire ancient history is written based on the false belief that Ireland was uninhabitable during the Ice age. It wasn’t, and the 33,000 year old human bones prove it. One of the greatest riddles in science, philosophy, and religion is the origin of man.
Ireland and Evolution
The ‘Out of Africa’ theory – where modern homo Saipan humans evolved in Africa and spread to Europe is incredibly popular. However, that doesn’t make it correct. The scientific record is crammed with once-popular theories that have been consigned to the dustbin of history. For example, it’s not that long ago that Piltdown man was proudly displayed in the national history museum in London and widely accepted as the missing link between ape and man – a scientific breakthrough of epic proportions. In reality, it was an elaborate fraud made from the head of a human and the teeth of an orangutan ape. Sadly, the Piltdown man debacle led many scientists down a blind alley. It tarnished the idea that Britain and Ireland ever played a significant role in human evolution.
Evolution: A New Idea
Let us consider a maverick idea. The enigmatic and strangely overlooked Homo antecessor first appeared on the scene around one million years ago in Western Europe including Britain. These curious hominins showed a unique mix of modern and primitive traits. Their modern teeth and shoulder bones, along with their ancient age, make them the best-known candidate for the common ancestor of both Neanderthals and Homo sapiens. Homo antecessor has not been found outside of Western Europe.
We know modern Homo Sapian humans and Neanderthals split from a common ancestor around half a million years ago. We also know that Homo antecessor was rampant across Britain and Western Europe around a million years ago. Is it really such a stretch to suggest that maybe some of them got isolated on an Ireland before undergoing island evolution to create modern man? The author recognises his maverick idea flies in the face of modern science. It will quickly be labelled as pseudoscience, but there is no denying that this is an idea worth exploring and the plot is about to thicken.
Cro Magnon Man
An unusual branch of Homo Sapiens was first identified in Cro Magnon France where 35,000-yearold fossils were found. These fossils showed signs of traumatic injuries that had been healed, showing impressive medical knowledge and a caring culture. Nicknamed Cro Magnon man, they were anatomically human and looked much like we do today, except for one significant detail. Their brain was huge – around 20% larger than ours – and they were very mobile.
45,000-year-old Cro Magnon fossils have been found in Britain while they also reached as far as the Russian Artic around 40,000 years ago. While there’s presently no hard evidence to say Cro Magnon’s ever stood on Ireland’s shores, equally there is no evidence to say they didn’t! The origins of the big brained Cro Magnon man remains a mystery. For a long time, they were considered a separate species to modern man. However, today they are considered the same species – Homo Sapien.
Evolution: Origins in Ireland?
Did Cro Magnon modern man first evolve in Ireland, just as the golden hare and polar bears did? Did a population of Homo antecessor make their way to Ireland from Britain in the very distant past (perhaps as early as 1 million years ago)? Did they evolve into modern humans due to the unique evolutionary pressures found in Ireland – an ocean island? While there is of yet no hard evidence for this maverick theory, there are some genetic clues. Haplogroup R1b is a gene found on the male chromosome and is a direct link to Cro Magnon man. And where in the world is this gene most common?
In Western Ireland, where up to 95% of Irish males carry this gene. Ice Age Ireland would have been the perfect laboratory to drive human evolution with deadly predators (wolves, bears), a changing landmass, long periods of genetic isolation, and a year-round supply of glucose in the form of tree sap and resin – the ultimate brain food. Forests provided the perfect place for early man to emerge – they had shelter, a year-round supply of food, water, and wood to construct tools. Did our earliest ancestors emerge from the caves and forests of western Europe – not on the savannahs of Africa?
Blue Eyes, Red Hair
Both blue eyes and red hair are an adaptation to less sunlight and are thought to have emerged somewhere in western Europe around 10,000 years ago. The author suggests this occurred in Ireland. Interestingly red hair and blue eyes is the rarest human genetic combination on earth and is found in the highest concentration in Ireland and Scotland. It’s incredible to think that every person on earth with blue eyes is descended from a single individual that walked the earth several thousand years ago – an Adam- or Eve-type character. The origin of red hair and blue eyes leads all the way back to the mythical garden of Eden – the Emerald Island in the Atlantic.
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