Isis,
    I agree with everything you say which is basically that Lamarckian evolution does not occur. However. In some cases it does, at the single celled organism level. That's not my point.

  I tried to imagine how cell size could affect genetics of honey bees. We know that the hive contains a number of sisters among the worker caste. There is a sort of competition between them in deciding what eggs get eaten and which larva are chosen to make queen cells out of; also in which queen cells are torn down and which make it to maturity. 

IF (and I admit it's a BIG IF)  One strain of those sisters adapts better to the small cell environment and gains an edge in its representation in the colony, the following may occur. This strain of worker will enlarge their numbers because less eggs will be eaten with their genes and they will be more likely to choose the next queen which will nudge the gene pool in the direction of small cell. It's a somewhat fragile theory but evolution has eternity.

Anyway, my job is over if I can stimulate thought.

Dick Marron

Thinking that the very last thing a fish would discover is water.

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