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Asked by Dylon to Ed, Kerrianne, Oli, yoyehudi on 15 Nov 2017.
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Oli Wilson answered on 15 Nov 2017:
Probably not – it would take thousands and thousands of generations, and we don’t even spend that much time in water! If we did spend ages in water we might start getting better at absorbing oxygen through our skin, a bit like frogs, but even that would be tricky.
And in any case, you and I certainly couldn’t have gills and fins – we’ve got our genes and we’re stuck with them! It would be all about what changes happen in the DNA we pass down to our kids (and them to their kids etc), and whether being ever so slightly more gilly or finny helps them have children… Only if we decide that people with very webbed fingers or slightly see-through necks are extremely attractive are we likely to see the genes for these characteristics become common, and sadly I think that might be a long shot 😉
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Yo Yehudi answered on 15 Nov 2017:
Oli’s answer is great! I’d just like to emphasise that evolution is often mis-understood. People might assume that giraffes grew long necks in order to reach food high up, but that’s not really the way things go. Evolution isn’t some mysterious purpose saying “I need to change in order to survive” – it’s more like luck. So imagine that we’re back in the land of the short necked giraffes, and there’s not enough food on the ground. One giraffe is lucky enough to have a slightly longer neck than all the others. As a consequence, she’s better fed and survives long enough to pass on her long neck gene mutation to her offspring. Mutations that enhance survivability until you’re old enough to breed are what happens to evolution – evolution itself is not purposeful.
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Kerrianne Harrington answered on 15 Nov 2017:
Not without a significant amount of unethical tinkering.
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