The "missing link" is more a meme than a real issue. The term'
s from the 1800s, when little was known about evolution and many thought Darwin was portraying man as a sophisticated gorilla.
From the OED, early usage:
Nobody in scientific circles talks about missing links today. Every new transitional fossil discovered just creates two more missing links. It gets ridiculous pretty quickly.
s from the 1800s, when little was known about evolution and many thought Darwin was portraying man as a sophisticated gorilla.
From the OED, early usage:
1862 Caledonian Mercury 11 Jan. 7/6 Until the existence of some animal was discovered which should supply the "missing link" between man and the gorilla, there was a great gap even in Mr Darwin's theory of the origin of species.
Nobody in scientific circles talks about missing links today. Every new transitional fossil discovered just creates two more missing links. It gets ridiculous pretty quickly.
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