Question of the Week suggestionsEach week we ask a question. The idea is to generate material that's:
* interesting to read, i.e. we won't get bored of reading the answers after about 10 of them
* not been asked on this site before
* fun to answer
What would you like to ask? (We've left this question open - so feel free to drop in ideas anytime.)
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rob, Wed 14 Jan 2004, 13:01)
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What is your big science question?I've often wondered how goldfish could have gone through millions of years of evolution without learning how to stop eating when they're full. Do you have a big science question? Or a theory that explains everything?
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flatfrog Staring vacantly into space, Fri 9 May 2008, 8:45,
1 reply,
17 years ago)
In response to your question...I would assume that wild goldfish (or whatever wild ancestor fish goldfish were originally bred from) lacked a selective pressure to stop eating when they were full. In other words, due to food availability they were more likely to survive if they ate as much as they could when they could, than if they only ate up to a certain level of satiety.
Eating to fullness is a bit of a luxury in the wild, and I guess that in captivity the people that breed goldfishes are those that know how much to feed them.
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jme, Thu 22 May 2008, 11:26,
Reply)
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