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[[File:Darwin.jpg|alt=charles darwin's theory of evolution|right|thumb|225px|[[Charles Darwin]] wrote: "When we descend to details, we cannot prove that a single species has changed; nor can we prove that the supposed changes are beneficial, which is the groundwork of the theory.”<ref>Dr. [[Walt Brown]], Center for Scientific Creationism, [http://www.creationscience.com/onlinebook/ReferencesandNotes12.html References and Notes: Distinct Types]</ref> ]]  

[[File:Darwin.jpg|alt=charles darwin's theory of evolution|right|thumb|225px|[[Charles Darwin]] wrote: "When we descend to details, we cannot prove that a single species has changed; nor can we prove that the supposed changes are beneficial, which is the groundwork of the theory.”<ref name="creationscience.com">Dr. [[Walt Brown]], Center for Scientific Creationism, [http://www.creationscience.com/onlinebook/ReferencesandNotes12.html References and Notes: Distinct Types]</ref> ]]  

Today there are over one hundred million identified and cataloged [[fossils]] in the world's museums.<ref>[http://www.halos.com/printer.htm?page=/book/ctm-07-e.htm Creation's Tiny Mystery: Chapter 7: Creation Science—a Public Issue]</ref> If the [[evolution]]ary position was valid, then there should be "transitional forms" in the fossil record reflecting the intermediate life forms. Another term for these "transitional forms" is "missing links".

Today there are over one hundred million identified and cataloged [[fossils]] in the world's museums.<ref>[http://www.halos.com/printer.htm?page=/book/ctm-07-e.htm Creation's Tiny Mystery: Chapter 7: Creation Science—a Public Issue]</ref> If the [[evolution]]ary position was valid, then there should be "transitional forms" in the fossil record reflecting the intermediate life forms. Another term for these "transitional forms" is "missing links".

Despite the large number of fossils available to scientists in 1981, evolutionist Mark Ridley, who currently serves as a professor of zoology at [[Oxford University]], was forced to confess: "In any case, no real evolutionist, whether gradualist or [[Punctuated Equilibrium|punctuationist]], uses the fossil record as evidence in favour of the theory of evolution as opposed to [[Creationism|special creation]]."<ref>Mark Ridley, 'Who doubts evolution?', New Scientist, vol. 90, 25 June 1981, p. 831</ref>  

Despite the large number of fossils available to scientists in 1981, evolutionist Mark Ridley, who currently serves as a professor of zoology at [[Oxford University]], was forced to confess: "In any case, no real evolutionist, whether gradualist or [[Punctuated Equilibrium|punctuationist]], uses the fossil record as evidence in favour of the theory of evolution as opposed to [[Creationism|special creation]]."<ref>Mark Ridley, 'Who doubts evolution?', New Scientist, vol. 90, 25 June 1981, p. 831</ref>  

Charles Darwin admitted that his theory required the existence of "transitional forms." Darwin wrote: "So that the number of intermediate and transitional links, between all living and extinct species, must have been inconceivably great. But assuredly, if this theory be true, such have lived upon the earth."<ref>[http://www.thedarwinpapers.com/oldsite/number5/darwin5.htm THE DARWIN PAPERS, VOLUME 1, NUMBER V, FOSSILS: HISTORY WRITTEN IN STONE]</ref> However, Darwin wrote: "Why then is not every geological formation and every strata full of such intermediate links? [[Geology]] assuredly does not reveal any such finely-graduated organic chain; and this perhaps, is the most obvious and serious objection which can be urged against my theory."<ref>[http://www.veritas-ucsb.org/library/origins/quotes/Discontinuties.html NATURAL DISCONTINUITIES AND THE FOSSIL RECORD]</ref> Darwin thought the lack of transitional links in his time was because "only a small portion of the surface of the earth has been geologically explored and no part with sufficient care...".<ref>[[Charles Darwin]], ''Origin of the Species'', [http://www.darwin-literature.com/The_Origin_of_Species/10.html Chapter X: ON THE IMPERFECTION OF THE GEOLOGICAL RECORD]</ref> As Charles Darwin grew older he became increasingly concerned about the lack of evidence for the theory of evolution in terms of the existence of transitional forms. Darwin wrote, "“When we descend to details, we cannot prove that a single species has changed; nor can we prove that the supposed changes are beneficial, which is the groundwork of the theory.”<ref>Dr. [[Walt Brown]], Center for Scientific Creationism, [http://www.creationscience.com/onlinebook/ReferencesandNotes12.html References and Notes: Distinct Types]</ref>  

Charles Darwin admitted that his theory required the existence of "transitional forms." Darwin wrote: "So that the number of intermediate and transitional links, between all living and extinct species, must have been inconceivably great. But assuredly, if this theory be true, such have lived upon the earth."<ref>[http://www.thedarwinpapers.com/oldsite/number5/darwin5.htm THE DARWIN PAPERS, VOLUME 1, NUMBER V, FOSSILS: HISTORY WRITTEN IN STONE]</ref> However, Darwin wrote: "Why then is not every geological formation and every strata full of such intermediate links? [[Geology]] assuredly does not reveal any such finely-graduated organic chain; and this perhaps, is the most obvious and serious objection which can be urged against my theory."<ref name="veritas-ucsb.org">[http://www.veritas-ucsb.org/library/origins/quotes/Discontinuties.html NATURAL DISCONTINUITIES AND THE FOSSIL RECORD]</ref> Darwin thought the lack of transitional links in his time was because "only a small portion of the surface of the earth has been geologically explored and no part with sufficient care...".<ref>[[Charles Darwin]], ''Origin of the Species'', [http://www.darwin-literature.com/The_Origin_of_Species/10.html Chapter X: ON THE IMPERFECTION OF THE GEOLOGICAL RECORD]</ref> As Charles Darwin grew older he became increasingly concerned about the lack of evidence for the theory of evolution in terms of the existence of transitional forms. Darwin wrote, "“When we descend to details, we cannot prove that a single species has changed; nor can we prove that the supposed changes are beneficial, which is the groundwork of the theory.”<ref name="creationscience.com"/>  

Scientist Dr. Michael Denton wrote regarding the fossil record:  

Scientist Dr. Michael Denton wrote regarding the fossil record:  

{{cquote|"It is still, as it was in Darwin's day, overwhelmingly true that the first representatives of all the major classes of organisms known to biology are already highly characteristic of their class when they make their initial appearance in the fossil record. This phenomenon is particularly obvious in the case of the [[Invertebrate|invertebrate]] fossil record. At its first appearance in the ancient Paleozoic seas, invertebrate life was already divided into practically all the major groups with which we are familiar today.<ref>[http://www.veritas-ucsb.org/library/origins/quotes/Discontinuties.html NATURAL DISCONTINUITIES AND THE FOSSIL RECORD]</ref>}}

{{cquote|"It is still, as it was in Darwin's day, overwhelmingly true that the first representatives of all the major classes of organisms known to biology are already highly characteristic of their class when they make their initial appearance in the fossil record. This phenomenon is particularly obvious in the case of the [[invertebrate]] fossil record. At its first appearance in the ancient Paleozoic seas, invertebrate life was already divided into practically all the major groups with which we are familiar today.<ref name="veritas-ucsb.org">[http://www.veritas-ucsb.org/library/origins/quotes/Discontinuties.html NATURAL DISCONTINUITIES AND THE FOSSIL RECORD]</ref>}}

Creationists assert that evolutionists have had over 140 years to find a transitional fossil and nothing approaching a conclusive transitional form has ever been found and that only a handful of highly doubtful examples of transitional fossils exist.<ref>

Creationists assert that evolutionists have had over 140 years to find a transitional fossil and nothing approaching a conclusive transitional form has ever been found and that only a handful of highly doubtful examples of transitional fossils exist.<ref>

{{cquote|"[Darwin] was embarrassed by the fossil record because it didn't look the way he predicted it would .... Well, we are now about 120 years after Darwin, and knowledge of the fossil record has been greatly expanded. We now have a quarter of a million fossil species but the situation hasn't changed much. ... [W]e have even fewer examples of evolutionary transition than we had in Darwin's time." - David M. Raup, "Conflicts Between Darwin and Paleontology," ''Field Museum of Natural History Bulletin'' 50 (January 1979): 22-23, 24-25.}}

{{cquote|"[Darwin] was embarrassed by the fossil record because it didn't look the way he predicted it would .... Well, we are now about 120 years after Darwin, and knowledge of the fossil record has been greatly expanded. We now have a quarter of a million fossil species but the situation hasn't changed much. ... [W]e have even fewer examples of evolutionary transition than we had in Darwin's time." - David M. Raup, "Conflicts Between Darwin and Paleontology," ''Field Museum of Natural History Bulletin'' 50 (January 1979): 22-23, 24-25.}}

[[File:StephenGould.jpg|thumb|right|[[Harvard University|Harvard]] paleontologist [[Stephen Gould|Stephen Jay Gould]]

[[File:StephenGould.jpg|thumb|right|[[Harvard University|Harvard]] paleontologist [[Stephen Gould|Stephen Jay Gould]]

 

<small>(photo obtained from [http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Stephen_Jay_Gould_%28by_Kathy_Chapman%29.jpg Wikimedia commons], see [http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Stephen_Jay_Gould_%28by_Kathy_Chapman%29.jpg  license agreement])</small> ]]

<small>(photo obtained from [http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Stephen_Jay_Gould_%28by_Kathy_Chapman%29.jpg Wikimedia commons], see [http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Stephen_Jay_Gould_%28by_Kathy_Chapman%29.jpg  license agreement])</small> ]]

One of the most famous proponents of the theory of evolution was the late [[Harvard]] paleontologist [[Stephen Gould|Stephen Jay Gould]]. But Gould admitted the following:

One of the most famous proponents of the theory of evolution was the late [[Harvard]] paleontologist [[Stephen Gould|Stephen Jay Gould]]. But Gould admitted the following:

{{cquote|The extreme rarity of transitional forms in the fossil record persists as the trade secret of paleontology. The evolutionary trees that adorn our textbooks have data only at the tips and nodes of their branches; the rest is inference, however reasonable, not the evidence of fossils...We fancy ourselves as the only true students of life’s history, yet to preserve our favored account of evolution by natural selection we view our data as so bad that we never see the very process we profess to study.<ref>Dr. [[Walt Brown]], Center For Scientific Creationism, [http://www.creationscience.com/onlinebook/ReferencesandNotes23.html References and Notes: Fossil Gaps]</ref>}}

{{cquote|The extreme rarity of transitional forms in the fossil record persists as the trade secret of paleontology. The evolutionary trees that adorn our textbooks have data only at the tips and nodes of their branches; the rest is inference, however reasonable, not the evidence of fossils...We fancy ourselves as the only true students of life’s history, yet to preserve our favored account of evolution by natural selection we view our data as so bad that we never see the very process we profess to study.<ref name="References and Notes: Fossil Gaps">Dr. [[Walt Brown]], Center For Scientific Creationism, [http://www.creationscience.com/onlinebook/ReferencesandNotes23.html References and Notes: Fossil Gaps]</ref>}}

The [[conservative]] writer [[Ann Coulter]] sarcastically quipped concerning Gould's admission about the fossil record, "Lots of real scientific [[theory|theories]] have 'secrets.'"<ref>[http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=45893 Liberals' View of Darwin Unable to Evolve]</ref>

The [[conservative]] writer [[Ann Coulter]] sarcastically quipped concerning Gould's admission about the fossil record, "Lots of real scientific [[theory|theories]] have 'secrets.'"<ref>[http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=45893 Liberals' View of Darwin Unable to Evolve]</ref>

[[Image:Mayr.jpg|left|thumb|[[Ernst Mayr]]]]

[[Image:Mayr.jpg|left|thumb|[[Ernst Mayr]]]]

In 1980, David Woodruff wrote in the journal ''Science'' the following: "But fossil species remain unchanged throughout most of their history and the record fails to contain a single example of a significant transition.”<ref>Dr. [[Walt Brown]], Center For Scientific Creationism, [http://www.creationscience.com/onlinebook/ReferencesandNotes23.html References and Notes: Fossil Gaps]</ref> The late [[Ernst Mayr]] was a prominent [[Harvard]] [[biology|biologist]] who also served as the director of Harvard's Museum of Comparative [[Zoology]]. Mayr was a staunch evolutionist and [[atheism|atheist]]<ref>http://www.answersingenesis.org/docs2003/1208mayr.asp</ref> who maintained that evolution was a fact, yet in 1982 Mayr was compelled to make the following admission regarding the fossil record in relation to the theory of evolution: "Even the fossil record fails to substantiate any continuity and all novelties appear in the fossil record quite suddenly."<ref>[[Ernst Mayr]], [http://books.google.com/books?id=5f5kg_w2dJ4C&pg=PA441&lpg=PA441&dq=Even+the+fossil+record+fails+to+substantiate+any+continuity+and+all+novelties+appear+in+the+fossil+record+quite+suddenly&source=bl&ots=ZkMciG9ZtD&sig=_4KUqYwe5GKUtuASBXR5v3T9Cpk&hl=en&ei=YaYiSoeIEJmxtgeNyM2zBg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=3 1982a. Speciation and macroevolution. Evolution 36, page 1120]</ref>

In 1980, David Woodruff wrote in the journal ''Science'' the following: "But fossil species remain unchanged throughout most of their history and the record fails to contain a single example of a significant transition.”<ref name="References and Notes: Fossil Gaps">Dr. [[Walt Brown]], Center For Scientific Creationism, [http://www.creationscience.com/onlinebook/ReferencesandNotes23.html References and Notes: Fossil Gaps]</ref> The late [[Ernst Mayr]] was a prominent [[Harvard]] [[biology|biologist]] who also served as the director of Harvard's Museum of Comparative [[Zoology]]. Mayr was a staunch evolutionist and [[atheism|atheist]]<ref>http://www.answersingenesis.org/docs2003/1208mayr.asp</ref> who maintained that evolution was a fact, yet in 1982 Mayr was compelled to make the following admission regarding the fossil record in relation to the theory of evolution: "Even the fossil record fails to substantiate any continuity and all novelties appear in the fossil record quite suddenly."<ref>[[Ernst Mayr]], [http://books.google.com/books?id=5f5kg_w2dJ4C&pg=PA441&lpg=PA441&dq=Even+the+fossil+record+fails+to+substantiate+any+continuity+and+all+novelties+appear+in+the+fossil+record+quite+suddenly&source=bl&ots=ZkMciG9ZtD&sig=_4KUqYwe5GKUtuASBXR5v3T9Cpk&hl=en&ei=YaYiSoeIEJmxtgeNyM2zBg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=3 1982a. Speciation and macroevolution. Evolution 36, page 1120]</ref>

In 1985, Gould was more specific regarding his claim that there were intermediate forms and asserted that [[Archaeopteryx]] was a intermediate form.<ref>[[Stephen Jay Gould]], [http://www.stephenjaygould.org/library/gould_functionalshift.html "Not Necessarily a Wing," Natural History 94 (October 1985): 12-25; ]</ref> Also, according to Dr. Batten, in 1994 the following occurred in regard to Gould's stance on the fossil record:

In 1985, Gould was more specific regarding his claim that there were intermediate forms and asserted that [[Archaeopteryx]] was a intermediate form.<ref>[[Stephen Jay Gould]], [http://www.stephenjaygould.org/library/gould_functionalshift.html "Not Necessarily a Wing," Natural History 94 (October 1985): 12-25; ]</ref> Also, according to Dr. Batten, in 1994 the following occurred in regard to Gould's stance on the fossil record:

=== Cambrian rocks ===

=== Cambrian rocks ===

The so-called [[Cambrian explosion|"Cambrian" rocks]] which contain fossils are a vexing problem for evolutionists. ''Scientific American '' called them "Evolutionary biology’s deepest paradox"<ref>[http://creation.com/exploding-evolution Creatures found as fossils in ‘Cambrian’ rocks have no evolutionary ancestors. And no new basic body plans have appeared since]</ref> Creatures found as fossils in these "Cambrian" rocks have no evolutionary ancestors.<ref>[http://creation.com/exploding-evolution Creatures found as fossils in ‘Cambrian’ rocks have no evolutionary ancestors. And no new basic body plans have appeared since]</ref>  See: [http://creation.com/exploding-evolution Cambrian rocks].

The so-called [[Cambrian explosion|"Cambrian" rocks]] which contain fossils are a vexing problem for evolutionists. ''Scientific American '' called them "Evolutionary biology’s deepest paradox"<ref name="creation.com">[http://creation.com/exploding-evolution Creatures found as fossils in ‘Cambrian’ rocks have no evolutionary ancestors. And no new basic body plans have appeared since]</ref> Creatures found as fossils in these "Cambrian" rocks have no evolutionary ancestors.<ref name="creation.com"/>  See: [http://creation.com/exploding-evolution Cambrian rocks].

==  Supposed alleged transitional fossils are inevitably debunked ==

==  Supposed alleged transitional fossils are inevitably debunked ==

One of the tactics which Darwinists use is to promote a handful of alleged transitional fossils of a highly speculative nature which are later debunked.<ref>[http://creation.com/missing-links-parade The evolutionary parade of ‘missing links’ - The floats keep changing!]</ref>  When these handful of spurious transitional fossils are shown to be in error, evolutionists assert another handful of transitional fossils.<ref>[http://creation.com/missing-links-parade The evolutionary parade of ‘missing links’ - The floats keep changing!]</ref> Students who are indoctrinated into evolution are largely not told of the debunked fossils which later prove to be an embarrassment to the evolutionist community (See: [[Evolution and Cases of Fraud, Hoaxes and Speculation‎]] and [[Paleoanthropology]]).

One of the tactics which Darwinists use is to promote a handful of alleged transitional fossils of a highly speculative nature which are later debunked.<ref name="ReferenceA">[http://creation.com/missing-links-parade The evolutionary parade of ‘missing links’ - The floats keep changing!]</ref>  When these handful of spurious transitional fossils are shown to be in error, evolutionists assert another handful of transitional fossils.<ref name="ReferenceA"/> Students who are indoctrinated into evolution are largely not told of the debunked fossils which later prove to be an embarrassment to the evolutionist community (See: [[Evolution and Cases of Fraud, Hoaxes and Speculation‎]] and [[Paleoanthropology]]).

== External links ==

== External links ==

[[Category:Evolution]]

[[Category:Evolution]]

[[Category: Fossils]]

[[Category:Fossils]]