Evolution

Originally posted by David C
Isn't he great folks? Let's give him a hand. Right, ratboy?

Hey. Stop stealing a quote that buried you. 😛

Originally posted by AThousandYoung
[bThe fossil record is one source of evidence for this idea, as are morphological and genetic observations in living organisms and observations of speciation occurring in nature.[/b]

“In spite of the examples, it remains true that most new species, genera and families appear in the record suddenly (the Cambrian Explosion), and are not led up to by known, gradual, completely continuous transitional sequences.”

-George Gaylord Simpson-

Originally posted by Halitose
“In spite of the examples, it remains true that most new species, genera and families appear in the record suddenly (the Cambrian Explosion), and are not led up to by known, gradual, completely continuous transitional sequences.”

-George Gaylord Simpson-

What do you make of that?

Originally posted by Bosse de Nage
What do you make of that?

One of the worlds leading paleontologists wasn't so sure of the proof that ATY just sprouts for fact.

Originally posted by Halitose
One of the worlds leading paleontologists wasn't so sure of the proof that ATY just sprouts for fact.

But what do you make of it?

Originally posted by Bosse de Nage
But what do you make of it?

Methinks there is less proof in the fossil record than people make out.

There are two places in the world that have an abundance of Cambrian fossils: the Burgess Shale in the Canadian Rockies and the Chengjiang site in China.

In Stephen J. Gould's Wonderful Life, he points out that the Burgess Shale Cambrian fossils include "a range of disparity in anatomical design never again equaled, and not matched today by all the creatures in the world's oceans."

Further, these fossils contain some twenty to thirty kinds of arthropods that cannot be placed in any modern group. The modern arthropods, consisting of almost a million species, can all fit into four major groups. But "one quarry in British Columbia, representing the first explosion of multicellular life, reveals more than twenty additional arthropod designs." Today there are about 38 phyla in existence, but the Canadian, Chinese and other Cambrian sites reveal over fifty phyla.

There has been a decrease in diversity (probably due to global catastrophes). This is the reverse of what evolutionary theory predicts.

Originally posted by Halitose
This is the reverse of what evolutionary theory predicts.

How so?

Originally posted by Bosse de Nage
How so?

Er... Small mutational steps = slow diversification. More time = more diversification.

Originally posted by Halitose
Er... Small mutational steps = slow diversification.

And if the process is interrupted by major catastrophes? How does that contradict evolution?

Originally posted by Bosse de Nage
And if the process is interrupted by major catastrophes? How does that contradict evolution?

Evolution leans heavily on uniformatarianism which does not allow for any majot catastrophes, such as the Biblical flood.

Originally posted by Halitose
Evolution leans heavily on uniformatarianism which does not allow for any majot catastrophes, such as the Biblical flood.

Which scientific discipline would be responsible for determining if there were catastrophes such as meteor strikes, crazy flooding, etc?

Originally posted by Bosse de Nage
And if the process is interrupted by major catastrophes? How does that contradict evolution?

Another problem is that there is no proof of a process there, just fully formed and speciated fossils.

Originally posted by Halitose
Another problem is that there is no proof of a process there, just fully formed and speciated fossils.

complete with vertebrates? or angiosperms? or even gymnosperms?

Originally posted by aardvarkhome
complete with vertebrates? or angiosperms? or even gymnosperms?

Even better would be from gynosperm to vertebrate.

Originally posted by dj2becker
Even better would be from gynosperm to vertebrate.

No, go to the back of the class, it doesn't work like that