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The Best Pokémon (According to Science)

2020-11-25

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There’s lots of debate as to which original starter Pokémon is the best fighter among squirtle, bulbasaur, charmander, and pikachu, but only one is the most biologically plausible.

LEARN MORE

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To learn more about this topic, start your googling with these keywords:

Convergent evolution: the process whereby organisms not closely related (not monophyletic), independently evolve similar traits as a result of having to adapt to similar environments or ecological niches.

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Satirical scientific article about pikachu: https://www.scq.ubc.ca/upregulated-membrane-expression-of-a-conserved-voltage-gated-sodium-channel-nav1-4a-and-electrical-organ-discharge-in-electric-mouse-p-pikachu/

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CREDITS

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Julián Gustavo Gómez (@thejuliangomez) | Script Writer, Narrator and Director

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REFERENCES

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Bels, V. L., J. Davenport, and S. Renous. "Drinking and water expulsion in the diamondback turtle Malaclemys terrapin." Journal of Zoology 236.3 (1995): 483-497. Gallant, Jason R., et al. "Genomic basis for the convergent evolution of electric organs." Science 344.6191 (2014): 1522-1525.

Hultgren, K. M., et al. "Camouflage in decorator crabs: integrating ecological, behavioural and evolutionary approaches." Animal camouflage (2011): 214-229.

Lewis, Danny. “This Is How Bombardier Beetles Fire Explosives From Their Butts.” Smithsonian.com, Smithsonian Institution, 5 May 2015, www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/machine-gun-bug-180955150.

Quirós, Gabriela. “Decorator Crabs Make High Fashion at Low Tide.” KQED, 9 May 2017, www.kqed.org/science/1602625/decorator-crabs-make-high-fashion-at-low-tide.

Wanninger, Marion, Thomas Schwaha, and Egon Heiss. "Form and Function of the skin glands in the Himalayan newt Tylototriton verrucosus." Zoological Letters 4.1 (2018): 15.


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