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The Evidence for Evolution in the Fossil Record

LuisDantas

LuisDantas

Aura of atheification
Premium Member
faroukfarouk said:
I have a question for our evolution pundits.
Did everything evolve from something or nothing?
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That is not at all a question regarding what is usually meant by evolution, you know.

Evolution is a biological theory. It does not regard phylosophical questions about the origin of "everything".
 
rusra02

rusra02

Well-Known Member
Premium Member
“Instead of finding the gradual unfolding of life,” says evolutionary paleontologist David M. Raup, “what geologists of Darwin’s time, and geologists of the present day actually find is a highly uneven or jerky record; that is, species appear in the sequence very suddenly, show little or no change during their existence in the record, then abruptly go out of the record.”

In reality, the vast majority of fossils show stability among types of creatures over extensive amounts of time. The evidence does not show them evolving from one type into another. Unique body plans appear suddenly. New features appear suddenly. For example, bats with sonar and echolocation systems appear with no obvious link to a more primitive ancestor.

In fact, more than half of all the major divisions of animal life seem to have appeared in a relatively short period of time. Because many new and distinct life forms appear so suddenly in the fossil record, paleontologists refer to this period as “the Cambrian explosion.” When was the Cambrian period?

Let us assume that the estimates of researchers are accurate. In that case, the history of the earth could be represented by a time line that stretches the length of a soccer field (1). At that scale, you would have to walk about seven eighths of the way down the field before you would come to what paleontologists call the Cambrian period (2). During a small segment of that period, the major divisions of animal life show up in the fossil record. How suddenly do they appear? As you walk down the soccer field, all those different creatures pop up in the space of less than one step!" --Origin of Life-Five Questions Worth Asking
 
Revoltingest

Revoltingest

Pragmatic Libertarian
Premium Member
rusra02 said:
“Instead of finding the gradual unfolding of life,” says evolutionary paleontologist David M. Raup, “what geologists of Darwin’s time, and geologists of the present day actually find is a highly uneven or jerky record; that is, species appear in the sequence very suddenly, show little or no change during their existence in the record, then abruptly go out of the record.”

In reality, the vast majority of fossils show stability among types of creatures over extensive amounts of time. The evidence does not show them evolving from one type into another. Unique body plans appear suddenly. New features appear suddenly. For example, bats with sonar and echolocation systems appear with no obvious link to a more primitive ancestor.

In fact, more than half of all the major divisions of animal life seem to have appeared in a relatively short period of time. Because many new and distinct life forms appear so suddenly in the fossil record, paleontologists refer to this period as “the Cambrian explosion.” When was the Cambrian period?

Let us assume that the estimates of researchers are accurate. In that case, the history of the earth could be represented by a time line that stretches the length of a soccer field (1). At that scale, you would have to walk about seven eighths of the way down the field before you would come to what paleontologists call the Cambrian period (2). During a small segment of that period, the major divisions of animal life show up in the fossil record. How suddenly do they appear? As you walk down the soccer field, all those different creatures pop up in the space of less than one step!" --Origin of Life-Five Questions Worth Asking
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We should bear in mind that "short" in geological time is around a million years.
This is a whole lotta time for reproductive mischief & evolution.
 
Ouroboros

Ouroboros

Coincidentia oppositorum
Revoltingest said:
We should bear in mind that "short" in geological time is around a million years.
This is a whole lotta time for reproductive mischief & evolution.
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That's right. Like the Cambrian "explosion". It was 100 million years or something like that.

*edit*

Sorry, 20-25 million years. Still quite a good stretch of time.
 
Monk Of Reason

Monk Of Reason

༼ つ ◕_◕ ༽つ
rusra02 said:
“Instead of finding the gradual unfolding of life,” says evolutionary paleontologist David M. Raup, “what geologists of Darwin’s time, and geologists of the present day actually find is a highly uneven or jerky record; that is, species appear in the sequence very suddenly, show little or no change during their existence in the record, then abruptly go out of the record.”

In reality, the vast majority of fossils show stability among types of creatures over extensive amounts of time. The evidence does not show them evolving from one type into another. Unique body plans appear suddenly. New features appear suddenly. For example, bats with sonar and echolocation systems appear with no obvious link to a more primitive ancestor.

In fact, more than half of all the major divisions of animal life seem to have appeared in a relatively short period of time. Because many new and distinct life forms appear so suddenly in the fossil record, paleontologists refer to this period as “the Cambrian explosion.” When was the Cambrian period?

Let us assume that the estimates of researchers are accurate. In that case, the history of the earth could be represented by a time line that stretches the length of a soccer field (1). At that scale, you would have to walk about seven eighths of the way down the field before you would come to what paleontologists call the Cambrian period (2). During a small segment of that period, the major divisions of animal life show up in the fossil record. How suddenly do they appear? As you walk down the soccer field, all those different creatures pop up in the space of less than one step!" --Origin of Life-Five Questions Worth Asking
Click to expand...
You read one thing and assume another.
The issue isn't that evolution is wrong and that speciation is wrong. Its that evolution doesn't usually happen in a slow steady pace but usually in short bursts of great change. This is usually caused by a large change in the environment rather than a simplistic genetic drift.
 
rusra02

rusra02

Well-Known Member
Premium Member
Monk Of Reason said:
You read one thing and assume another.
The issue isn't that evolution is wrong and that speciation is wrong. Its that evolution doesn't usually happen in a slow steady pace but usually in short bursts of great change. This is usually caused by a large change in the environment rather than a simplistic genetic drift.
Click to expand...
No, I follow the facts, not try to explain them away without evidence.
 
Monk Of Reason

Monk Of Reason

༼ つ ◕_◕ ༽つ
Monk Of Reason said:
What facts? Can you name a few of your sources of facts?
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Can you give me a page or post number to refer to? I responded to the original post you posted in the thread and none of it contained anything counter to evolution that could be considered a fact. I wouldn't even feel good calling it conjecture.
 
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