John VanSickle wrote:
> Even if it were, it could not be truly counted as observed until 
> it has actually passed, in which case we would no longer be "on the cusp."

Speciation has been observed happening in the wild as well as induced by 
people. Based on the induced speciation, people know at least one mechanism 
by which it comes about. These birds are subject to one of those mechanisms 
right now, according to the researchers.

Of course, maybe it won't happen.  But if you're in the final innings of a 
World Series baseball game and you're ahead by several runs, it's fair to 
say you're "on the cusp" of winning, even if it turns out you lose.

I.e., it's assumed they're "on the cusp", yes, but that's always true when 
you use that phrase, since it's predicting the future.

Given that, the article doesn't say "on the cusp".

-- 
   Darren New, San Diego CA, USA (PST)
   "We'd like you to back-port all the changes in 2.0
    back to version 1.0."
   "We've done that already. We call it 2.0."

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