Mew Part 2: Posterchild for Lamarckian Evolution

So now that we were confident in the Mew Ancestor Theory, let’s talk about how the various Mew populations evolved into the numerous Pokémon breeds out there.  As for Mew's personal species history, one can see from its Pokedex entries (and by the fact that you can't normally find it in the game) that Mew are an extremely rare species in contemporary times, so rare in fact that many researchers don't even believe it exists (good to see that many old scientists are doddering pessimists who are hesitant to believe anything in the Pokemon world too!).  According to some old legends in Gen 4, however, Mew may have one time been plentiful.  This was before recorded human history, before the prehistoric Pokemon were even around (for Pokemon fans, it was around the time Kyogre and Groundon made the seas and land).  Mew diminished over time however, and the answer why is obvious.  Using its unique ability to change into any shape and use any kind of elemental power, various pockets of Mew population settled down in a physical location and transformed into something better suited for their environment, filling all the available niches.  They then passed on these new traits to their children, and after several generations the individual subspecies of Pokemon started to form.  If you're familiar at all with evolutionary biology, you know what this means.  Evolution in the Pokemon world runs on the mechanics of Lamarckian evolution!  Say whaaaaatt???

If you’ve taken 6^th science class, then you know what Lamarckian evolution is.  Let me refresh your memory:

This is one evolutionary idea that was thought up of before Charles Darwin presented natural selection in Origin of the Species.  Evolution was not an idea that Charles Darwin pulled out of thin air in 1859, on the contrary Enlightenment era biologists were noticing for a while that species obviously change.  There just wasn’t a good mechanic for it proposed yet (plus there was that whole religion thing making people hesitant to speak too boldly about it).  Probably the most favored mechanic pre-Darwin was proposed by French Biologist Jean-Baptiste Lamarck a couple of times between 1794 and 1809.  You can see the mechanic in the above picture.  The giraffe, after a lifetime of stretching its neck to reach the leaves in tall trees, will then pass down its new long neck to its children.  This idea is summed up in two points: 1) evolution-by-necessity-when a feature is needed, it will appear; 2)use-it-or-lose-it- when a feature is not needed, it will disappear.  We now know this is a fallacy.  Traits are passed on through genetic information (genotypes), not physical traits (phenotypes).  Nothing can will their body to change their genes, and if a bodybuilder has kids they won’t automatically be born ripped.  Therefore we know Lamarckian evolution doesn’t happen because 1)living individuals have no capacity to ‘evolve’ and they have no capacity to change their personal genetic codes; and 2)biological evolution is not a response to the environment, but a consequence of the environment.

However, in the Pokémon Universe Lamarckian theory seems like the most obvious mechanic for evolution.  How could this be possible if it’s been proven wrong in the real world?  Because this is a fictional world with different rules!  Unlike a real animal, Mew DOES have the ability to will its body to transform into whatever it wants.  Mew’s DNA is a wild and complex group of molecules that not only allow its phenotype to change crazily, but to speciate into the other Pokémon without losing its ability to interbreed within the total population.  Each subspecies of Pokémon keeps that intensely varied genetic code too as evidenced by Pikachu (an electric type) using Iron Tail (a steel type move).  And when I get into the mechanics of what Pokémon calls “evolution” (Bulbasaur evolving into Ivysaur, etc), you’ll see just how much Pokémon have a conscious ability to tap into their genotype to radically change their phenotype.  We still run into the problem of ontogeny though (ontogeny is the term for the development of an individual from fertilized egg to its mature form, aka the Pokémon’s journey from sperm and egg to hatched creature).  All Pokémon have almost the same genotype, yet aren’t born as Mew.  I propose two solutions.

Hypothesis 1: Constant use of the same transformed outward form and/or elemental techniques in a population of Mew/Pokémon will permanently mutate the section of genetic code used in ontogeny, resulting in a different phenotype on birth.

Hypothesis 2: An individual is able to permanently mutate the section of genetic code used in ontogeny as a conscious effort.

Before you scoff at the second hypothesis, consider this: Since physical transformation and use of varied elemental powers is a conscious effort of an individual to manipulate sections of its genetic code in the first place, it’s not outrageous to think they the same individual can consciously manipulate the way its children develop.  Regardless, either of these hypothesis could be the answer to the problem of Pokémon’s soft inheritance.

Completely incorrect, and now used as a strawman by creationists.

I should note that there is another evolutionary idea now proven false that is related to ontogeny and Mew itself.  It is the recapitulation theory, which is unsurprisingly inspired largely from Lamarckian evolution.  It infamously states that “ontogeny recapitulates phylogeny”, which in laymen’s terms basically means that in an individual animal the development process from embryo to adult goes through stages that look like the previous stages of their species’ evolution.  This concept was proposed by German zoologist Ernst Haeckel in 1866, and is discredited today namely because… it doesn’t happen.  At no stage of development does a chicken or human fetus grow functional fish gills.  The infamous illustration at the right was exaggerated by the illustrator to try and prove the hypothesis as true, and the initial idea came from overactive imagination when observing fetal stages (humans naturally look for patterns even when none are there).  However the idea isn’t completely bogus.  In development the more ancient of traits often develop first, like the backbone in vertebrate embryos.  So how does this idea relate to Mew?

Mew itself looks like a fetus.  It’s pink, has a big head with a little body, and hair so fine that you need a microscope to see it.  It even forms a protective psychic bubble around it sometimes (like in Pokémon Snap) that resembles an amniotic sac.  Just compare for yourself:

So while recapitulation theory says that our fetuses look like our ancestors, in Pokémon their ancestor looks like a fetus.  Weird.

There’s one last problem with Mew being the Pokémon ancestor.  Why would it, as its Pokedex entry states, “contain the genetic codes of all Pokémon”?  Evolution does work that way.  Our ancestor didn’t have the genetic codes of all the current organisms, bits of genetic code got added, changed, and deleted to it over time and many, many mutations.  To suggest that the original ancestor would have all the different species it would evolve to mapped out in its DNA ahead of time is reminiscent of …. shudder… intelligent design.  I have two answers to this.  First, unlike in the real world intelligent design is an actual possibility in the Pokémon universe.  The Pokémon universe has a creator god called Arceus, and whether it acts as some kind of interfering deity or as a more deistic divine watchmaker is yet to be determined.  However, that possibility of ID is there.  More likely than not however, I feel like the phrase “contain the genetic codes of all Pokémon” is actually a misnomer.  It should read as “contains the same genetic material that all Pokémon have”.  The genotype of all Pokémon is practically the same as Mew’s with only a few genetically minor (while phenotypically major) changes.  Besides, just like dogs one could argue that Mew’s vast variety of breeds and subspecies got that way through artificial selection, only instead of a dog breeder, the one doing the artificial selection is the Pokémon itself.  Mew’s smart enough to do so anyway.

So here’s to Mew, the super rare fetus ancestor Pokémon!  May you grace the Pokedexes of lucky trainers everywhere.

Next time: I'll begin my quest to map out the phylogenetic tree of all Pokemon.  It's not going well so far...

PS: Some of the ideas posited by Lamarck's theories are now actually be reconsidered today, particularly when it comes to evolutionary developmental biology (or Evo-Devo).  But that's current, brand new research that shouldn't be talked about in a mostly pedestrian setting like this yet.

Mew: The Origin of the Species

In my last Pokemon article I revealed that all Pokemon technically belong to the same species.  I ended by saying that the origin of the Pokemon species, the creature they all evolved from, was the legendary Pokemon Mew.  Here's why.

As with all the individual Pokemon families I'll research, my greatest tool will be the Pokedex entries.  The anime, as I've stated before, is crap, my own extrapolations as well as other fan theories are obviously not Nintendo licensed canon, and you could argue that anything said by an NPC in the games could be the hearsay of misinformed characters.  The Pokedex is a portable encyclopedia for Pokemon trainers to carry in the field, and it contains blurbs of information (different in each game version) on individual Pokemon breeds available to read upon capture.  These blurbs consists of data complied by actual Pokemon researchers from the game world, such as Professor Oak.  Thus, the Pokedex will be the most legitimate source of information for me to use and extrapolate on.  Now here are some Pokedex entries on Mew:

From Silver version: Its DNA is said to contain the genetic codes of all Pokémon, so it can use all kinds of techniques.

From Crystal version: Because it can learn any move, some people began research to see if it is the ancestor of all Pokémon.

From Ruby/Sapphire version: Mew is said to possess the genetic composition of all Pokémon. It is capable of making itself invisible at will, so it entirely avoids notice even if it approaches people.

From FireRed version: A Pokémon of South America that was thought to have been extinct. It is very intelligent and learns any move.

From Diamond/Pearl/Platinum version: Because it can use all kinds of moves, many scientists believe Mew to be the ancestor of Pokémon.

These help us paint a picture of Mew.  As I said last time, whatever Pokemon all the other Pokemon derived, the Pokemon Prime if you will, would have to have the capacity to differentiate into all the other Pokemon breeds.  Mew has the amazing ability to learn EVERY SINGLE TM and HM in the Pokemon universe, in all versions (for those of you unacquainted with Pokemon, TM's and HM's are items used to teach attack moves to Pokemon who wouldn't learn them naturally just by leveling up (growing with experience).  Most Pokemon are only compatible with a limited number from the vast pools of TM's and HM's, mostly only with moves that match or are similar to their elemental type).  This means that Mew has the capacity to draw forth from its body any kind of elemental move, be it poison, fire, water, insecty-ness, etc.  While plenty of Pokemon can use moves not of their type, it often makes sense, like a water type using an ice-type move, or a psychic-type using a ghost type move.  However Mew has the capacity for all types, which would make sense if most of the Mew species differentiated into all the different type Pokemon.  Another move-based clue is looking at Mew's movepool.  In generation 1, Mew could only learn 5 moves by leveling up, and the second move it learns is Transform at level 10 (with only Pound which it knows at birth coming before it, something that is unsurprising since any animal should have the ability to physically hit something with their body).  Transform is a move that allows the user to copy the appearance and moveset of its opponent, a move that only the Pokemon Ditto shares with it (more on Ditto later, obviously).  Add these two bits of information to the fact that Mew does share the same genes as all the other Pokemon as stated by the Pokedex entries above, and it seems conclusive that Mew is in fact the originator of all Pokemon species* 

Just like all dog breeds are essentially variations of the first Canis lupis familiaris that helped out ancestors hunt, all Pokemon* subspecies are essentially variations of Mew.  All Pokemon* are Mew.  This explains why every Pokemon is so genetically unstable, is able to interbreed, and can learn moves not of its type.  They're all based on one very mutagenic Pokemon.  Wait, that's a misnomer, Mew isn't mutagenic, but can... mutate its genetic code easily?  What's the best way to describe it?

Ah yes.  Thank you Alpha 5.

I'm splitting my Mew post up because this is getting a little long.  Next time: Mew and Lamarkian Evolution.  Evolutionary biologists out there, get ready.

*All Pokemon except for some of the deities, again, to be talked about later.

Pokemon and Ring Species

The world of Pokémon is crazy as shit.  You can raise dragons that can breathe fire hotter than the sun, cocoons “evolve” into butterflies, and you can breed a blue whale with a kitten.  While anyone with a shred of sanity would just accept that it’s a video game about a fictional world and thus is unbound by reality, I am clearly insane.  Or just academically bored.  Why?  Because my goal is to figure out the mechanics of Pokémon universe by applying the knowledge and models of the real world.  Obviously I’ll be focusing on biological concepts, not just because that’s what I have a BS in but because we’re exploring living organisms here.  However, I’ll eventually start exploring the religious and metaphysical aspects of the Pokémon universe as well.  After all, the Pokémon universe has an actual creator god.  That you can catch and train.  Plenty of seriously disturbing implications to discuss there!  But I digress.  For the sake of these studies I am going to consider the Pokémon universe to include the video games only and exclude the manga and anime.  This is not just because the video game is the source material, but because the other media are just too confusing to work with.  While there might be plenty of potential material to glean from the anime, particularly about Pokémon behavior, there are just too many moments that make no sense or directly go against the game (“Pikachu! Aim for Rhydon’s horn!” most readily comes to mind) to be able to consider the anime as a viable material to work from.  Thus to keep things controlled and as simple as possible, I will be working with the video games only.

Before I can talk about the larger concepts like the evolution mechanic in the Pokémon world, and especially before we delve into the individual Pokémon oddities like Dugtrio and Exeggcute there is one important fact that must be understood first.  As it turns out, all Pokémon count as a single species.  To understand why, you need to understand the species problem.  Ever since western thought and academia really started to form itself coherently with the ancient Greeks, we’ve been obsessed with labeling knowledge and putting it in neat little organized boxes.  It’s no surprise then that biologists have classified all known living organisms into a system of taxa.  You may remember this from grade school as Kingdom-Phylum-Class-Order-Family- Genus-Species, or as the elementary school mnemonic device goes- Kinky People Come Over For Group Sex (what can I say, my 4^th grade teacher was really weird).  This structured language use does a terrible job describing the ever changing body of scientific knowledge as well as the ever changing nature of life.  We realize we have to add a taxon (Domain) before Kingdom, we realize a group of organisms got classified wrong years ago, and worse of all, the species problem.  Not only are there petty problems about distinguishing species like which scientist found it first but defining a species is a really, really difficult task in and of itself.  As it stands, a species is defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring.  For example, horses and donkeys belong to two different species because while they might be related enough to have sex and reproduce, they cannot produce viable offspring (mules are born sterile).  This leads to very difficult problems when defining a species.  A poodle and a Great Dane look very different yet are the same species, while at the same time there are 64 distinct species of rat that all look pretty much the same.  What do you call a population who is in the middle of evolving from one species to another?  And worse of all, how do we deal with ring species?

As it turns Pokémon count as one massive ring species.  What is a ring species you might ask?  A popular, real life example is the Arctic Tern, a bird who lives in a circumpolar distribution around the North Pole.  A breeding population of tern can successfully mate with their neighboring tern population, the latter of which can also mate with the neighboring population of tern on the other side of them, etc. etc.  Eventually the minor genetic differences in the breeding populations makes it so the first group cannot produce viable offspring with the population on the opposite side of the North Pole, thus meaning they now belong to different species.  This creates a paradox where A=B, B=C, C=D, but A≠D.  Allow the below diagrams from Wikipedia illustrate further:

Where 7 is the same species as 1, but at the same time is not.

This concept of ring species applies to the game mechanics of the Pokémon world too.  For those unacquainted with the post- 1^st Generation games, you can breed your Pokémon together in order to collect rare baby Pokémon and/or to breed the ultimate killing machine.  Two Pokémon (of opposite genders obviously) can mate and reproduce as long as they belong to the same egg group, of which there are 15 total.  Let me say right away that this proves that at the very least Pokémon within the same egg groups are the same species, since the offspring of a Snorlax and a Kangaskhan (both in the Monster egg group) can produce a fertile child.  But many Pokémon belong to two egg groups.  This is built into the game so that the Trainer can use technique called chain breeding to pass moves on through generations for battling (Google it for details, too much to discuss here).  While this is a cool game mechanic for creating the ultimate tailored fighter, the scientific implications are staggering.  Because you can essentially breed two Pokémon of any egg group together through intermediate Pokémon and still produce viable offspring, all Pokémon are actually one huge species.  Let’s test this by example.  Take two completely different Pokémon who normally could not breed together, and run them through the ring species evolutionary mechanic.  On one side we have Exeggutor, a walking psychic palm tree with 3 coconuts for heads that belongs solely to the Plant egg group.  On the other side we have Magcargo, a snail made out of lava with a shell consisting of barely cooled rock, which belongs solely to the Indeterminate egg group.  While their unsurprising inability to breed with one another directly would normally make them different species, if this odd couple can eventually produce viable grandchildren together then they are a ring species.

I totally made this myself.  Surprising right?  It looks so professional.

As you can see, the third generation Castform is a fertile grandchild between the Exeggutor and Magcargo, meaning those two are in fact the same species.  This can be applied to almost all of Pokémon save for a few 4^th generation legendaries (which is a metaphysical bordering on religious discussion of Pokémon for the future).  So now the question is, where do all these Pokémon spring from?  They all clearly have a common ancestor, but unlike in the real world this common ancestor would be the defining Pokémon species.  Essentially, all Pokémon would be varying breeds of this single Pokémon.  So could I be some primordial ooze Pokémon perhaps?  Or god (Arceus) itself?  Strangely enough, the answer is Mew.  But I’ll save that discussion for next time.

Coming next- Mew as the Origin of the Species and the Phylogenetic tree of Pokémon.