2. fossils: case for
What are fossils?
Mineralized remains or impressions of organisms that
lived in the past.
Where are they found?
All over the Earth, and at times many are found in the
same location.
3. fossils: case for
Darwin thought the sequence of fossil forms that are
found in sedimentary rocks supported his idea of
common descent.
Why?
When you dig deep into the Earth you notice that there
is layering or strata. In general, the further you go
down, the older the rocks are.
Sometimes, different fossils are found in different
layers. Some strata contain no fossils at all.
4. fossils: case for
In one there may be a sponge, another a trilobite, the
next a frog and then maybe a horse.
Darwin’s thought was that life had changed over the
course of history and that these changes made a
distinct pattern.
He saw that species would appear and then disappear
in the rock layerings. He called this “geological
succession”. Today we refer to it as “fossil succession”.
Darwin also noticed that over time, the fossil record
went from more simple organisms to more complex.
8. fossils: case for
branching pattern
present day at top of graph
new dot on graph
every time a new
organism appears
formation of Earth at bottom of graph
10. fossils: case for
branching pattern
present day at top of graph
the earlier the animal
appeared, the lower
the dot on the graph
formation of Earth at bottom of graph
12. fossils: case for
branching pattern
present day at top of graph
draw a line upwards
until they stop finding
fossils
formation of Earth at bottom of graph
17. fossils: case for
branching pattern
present day at top of graph
the farther apart 2 lines are,
the greater the difference between the species
formation of Earth at bottom of graph
22. fossils: case for
branching pattern
The second lesson
was that
every creature on
Earth must be linked
to a single common
ancestor in the distant
past.
25. fossils: case for
branching pattern
What led Darwin to think that he could just
connect the dots?
In order for the branching tree diagram to
be accurate, there must be “in between”
forms that existed between one branch and
another.
en Today, in-between forms are referred to as
e
w s “intermediate” or “transitional” forms.
et m
-b or
in f
Evolutionary biologist say that such forms
have been found.
26. fossils: case for
branching pattern
An example evolutionary biologists would point to, is
called “mammal-like reptiles”. They appeared 200-300
mya. They are extict, and have mostly reptilian traits,
mixed with some mammalian features.
A more recent discovery was a transitional fossil
connecting land-dwelling mammals to whales.
27. fossils: case for
branching pattern
Paleontologists see that there are
gaps still in the fossil record.
Typical evolutionary trees
represent these gaps as dotted
lines -- pieces still to be found.
Advocates for Common Descent,
argue that the gaps that have
been filled make it reasonable to
assume that we’ll eventually find
the rest.
28. fossils: case for
online resources
Arguments for Evolution
http://evolution.berkeley.edu/evolibrary/article/0_0_0/lines_02
http://biologos.org/questions/fossil-record
http://www.nap.edu/openbook.php?record_id=6024&page=15
http://bioweb.cs.earlham.edu/9-12/evolution/index.html
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/evolution/fossil-evidence.html
Counter Arguments against ID:
http://www.millerandlevine.com/km/evol/wells-april-2002.html
(Ken Miller - speaking against arguments that ID has made - Cambrian Explostion)
29. fossils: a reply
Most critics would agree that the fossil record shows
change over time.
They also agree that, in general (but not always), more
complex forms are found higher up the strata.
But overall, they say that the pattern of fossil evidence
contradicts the neo-Darwinian picture of evolution, in 2
ways.
the abrupt appearance of the fossils
the stability of animal forms during their time on
the Earth
30. fossils: a reply
Paleontologists have discovered that new life forms
have appeared, not in a gradual manner, but very
abruptly.
530 million years ago, more than half of the major
animal groups (phyla) appeared suddenly. This was
during the Cambrian period. Scientists now refer to this
sudden and dramatic appearance as “the Cambrian
Explosion”.
31. fossils: a reply
all of a sudden
The Cambrian Period is a fairly short period of time in
relation to the rest of the Earth’s history.
Evolutionary biologists doubt that it was enough time
for the slow, gradual Darwinian proesses to produce
the amount of change that occurs in the Cambrian
Explosion.
Many scientists think the sudden appearance of many
new life forms contradicts Darwin’s prediction that new
forms would emerge gradually over a great period of
time.
32. fossils: a reply
all of a sudden
A similar event took place during the Paleocene epoch
(65-55 mya).
15 new mammalian orders suddenly entered the fossil
record. This is referred to as the “mammalian
radiation”.
How different are these mammalian orders?
A few examples of animals from different orders are:
bears, bats, horses. They are quite different.
33. fossils: a reply
all of a sudden
The first bat appears during the Eocene epoch. It is
clearly a bat, that is capable of flight.
Yet, there is nothing that resembles a bat prior to that.
Critics of fossil succesion also argue that this is true
within plants.
34. fossils: a reply
all of a sudden
Critics say the pattern of fossil
appearance does not support
Darwin’s picture of a branching tree.
It more so gives a picture of
independent beginnings.
Darwin once said that the pattern of
abrupt appearance, “may be truly
urged as a valid argument” against
his theory of Common Descent.
35. fossils: a reply
all of a sudden
Fossil studies are showing that most animal forms
remain the same for their entire life on Earth.
Paleontologist David Raup says, “Instead of finding the
gradual unfolding of life what geologists of Darwin’s
time, and geologists of the present day actually find is a
highly uneven or jerky record; that is, specis appear in
the sequence very suddenly, show little or no change
during their existence in the record, then abruptly go
out of the record.”
36. fossils: a reply
a summary
The sudden appearance of new forms of life and
the stability of these form over time have led some
scientists to doubt that the fossil record supports
the case for Common Descent.
37. fossils: a reply
what about transitional fossils?
Let’s think first about a student who only gets 3
questions correct on a test with 100.
If that student went to the teacher and said, “Look at
these 3 answers, they are correct. This proves that I
understand the concept. It’s just a fluke that I got the
others wrong.”
What would the teacher say?
“You’re crazy! It was probably a fluke that you got 3
correct.”
38. fossils: a reply
what about transitional fossils?
In the same way, critics would say that discontinuity is
the prevailing pattern in the fossil record. The
transitional forms are rare exceptions.
They would argue that Darwin’s theory has failed an
important test. Just like you are tested by “celebrations
of learning”, theories are tested by how well they match
the evidence.
In a majority of cases, Common Descent does not
match the evidence of the fossil record.
39. fossils: a reply
resources
Evolution Exposed
by Roger Patterson
Speciation - page 57-67
Homology - page 68-72
Fossils (transitional) - page 73-74
Molecular Homology - page 74-75
Embryology - page 95-96
Refuting Evolution
by Jonathan Sarfati
The Politically Incorrect Guide to Darwinism and
Intelligent Design by Jonathan Wells
