Audio: Richard Dawkins on the potential to evolve, The Science Show

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This is an excerpt of a debate between Richard Dawkins and Stephen Jay Gould recorded in Oxford in 1987. They discuss their differing interpretations of Darwin's theory of evolution. It was first broadcast on The Science Show on September 3rd 1988. You can read the full transcript here.

TRANSCRIPT:
Presumably the first segmented ancestor of a centipede, and the same goes for our own first segmented ancestor, would have been a monstrous freak. It had a double or a triple body et cetera where its parents had a nice, tidy single body. We know it survived because its descendants are still with us. But I wouldn't be surprised if it survived in that primeval sea only by the skin of its teeth. What matters is not whether it was good at surviving, what interests us is its potential to evolve.

Image from the collection of the Smithsonian Institution. No known copyright restrictions.