Recurrent laryngeal nerve

See also

Perfect design

Brief notes

There is a nerve called the recurrent laryngeal nerve (RCN). It follows a circuitous route (exceedingly so in the case of the giraffe) that does not make good design sense but makes sense in the light of evolution (the structure makes sense in the context of the evolutionary history). Creationist responses include:

1. But the nerve has a purpose - it branches off near the bottom and innervates organs nearby.

2. There are developmental constraints: the nerve is formed and then the body elongates during development, so the RCN must elongate too.

3. We cannot know the mind of the designer.

Responses:

1. The nerve does indeed branch off near the bottom to innervate other organs but it should not need to travel this route to innervate the larynx.

2. This still does not explain the necessity for the RCN to develop looped under the artery. It makes sense within evolution, where its layout was originally not elongated and then later evolution caused that part of the body, and the nerve, to become elongated (just as we see in foetal development).

3. Then we cannot claim that we can detect good design and we cannot claim that we can see that everything was intelligently designed. See also the 'escape hatches' section of the creationist tactics page for information on the Goddidit fallacy.

Resources

Recurrent laryngeal nerve

Article on Wikipedia. Gives a brief overview.

Laryngeal nerve

Article on RationalWiki.

The 12 days of evolution. #6: The imperfection of evolution

Brief article by evolutionary biologist Jerry Coyne on his Why Evolution is True blog. Includes a one-minute PBS video on the subject of the imperfection of evolution.