Originally Posted by Tarquin
Originally Posted by DBT
Originally Posted by Fubarski


There are no missing link fossils in existence.



Not true. Please do your research before making these claims.



The fossil record is thoroughly unDarwinian. Stephen Gould called it the "trade secret of paleontology". Even Darwin recognized the lack of transitionals in the fossil record and conceded it was a problem. However he held out hope that with more digging, the missing transitionals would be found. But they have not been found, which is why Gould and Eldredge had to posit punctuated equilibrium as theoretical patch to try to reconcile Neo-Darwinism with the disconfirming fossil record. The overwhelming characteristic of the fossil record is stasis, not change, which was what Darwinism predicts.



A lot has happened since Darwin began developing his ideas on evolution based on observation. You use the language of creationist organizations. It is not a view held by the vast majority of researchers who work in the field.

For example;


''There are numerous examples of transitional forms in the fossil record, providing an abundance of evidence for change over time. Pakicetus (below left), is described as an early ancestor to modern whales. ... These fossil organisms represent branches on the tree and not a direct line of descent leading to modern horses.

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Transitional forms

Fossils or organisms that show the intermediate states between an ancestral form and that of its descendants are referred to as transitional forms. There are numerous examples of transitional forms in the fossil record, providing an abundance of evidence for change over time.

Pakicetus (below left), is described as an early ancestor to modern whales. Although pakicetids were land mammals, it is clear that they are related to whales and dolphins based on a number of specializations of the ear, relating to hearing. The skull shown here displays nostrils at the front of the skull.

A skull of the gray whale that roams the seas today (below right) has its nostrils placed at the top of its skull. It would appear from these two specimens that the position of the nostril has changed over time and thus we would expect to see intermediate forms.


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