Changes

:"[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.

:"[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.

One of the most famous proponents of evolution was the late Harvard paleontologist [[Stephen Jay Gould]].  But Gould admitted, "The extreme rarity of transitional forms in the fossil record persists as the trade secret of paleontology. 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>http://www.apologeticspress.org/modules.php?name=Read&cat=5&itemid=2080</ref> In a 1977 paper titled "The Return of Hopeful Monsters", Gould wrote: "All paleontologists know that the fossil record contains precious little in the way of intermediate forms; transitions between major groups are characteristically abrupt."<ref>http://www.answersingenesis.org/tj/v8/i2/punct.asp</ref>  

One of the most famous proponents of evolution was the late Harvard paleontologist [[Stephen Jay Gould]].  But Gould admitted, "The extreme rarity of transitional forms in the fossil record persists as the trade secret of paleontology... 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>http://www.talkorigins.org/faqs/quotes/mine/part3.html#quote3.2</ref>

 

In a 1977 paper titled "The Return of Hopeful Monsters", Gould wrote: "All paleontologists know that the fossil record contains precious little in the way of intermediate forms; transitions between major groups are characteristically abrupt."<ref>http://www.talkorigins.org/faqs/quotes/mine/part1-3.html#quote41</ref>  

 

This is the basis for there being two major divisions of evolutionary theory, ''[[Theory of Punctuated Equilibrium|punctuated equilibrium]]'' and ''[[Gradualism|gradualism]]''.  Gould is the best known proponent of the theory of punctuated equilibrium, [[Richard Dawkins]] is a advocate of gradualism.

This is the basis for there being two major divisions of evolutionary theory, ''[[Theory of Punctuated Equilibrium|punctuated equilibrium]]'' and ''[[Gradualism|gradualism]]''.  Gould is the best known proponent of the theory of punctuated equilibrium, [[Richard Dawkins]] is a advocate of gradualism.

The senior paleontologist at the British Museum of Natural History, Dr. Colin Patterson, put it this way: "[[Stephen Gould|Gould]] and the American Museum people are hard to contradict when they say there are no transitional fossils."<ref>http://www.answersingenesis.org/creation/v14/i4/fossils.asp</ref>

The senior paleontologist at the British Museum of Natural History, Dr. Colin Patterson, put it this way: "[[Stephen Gould|Gould]] and the American Museum people are hard to contradict when they say there are no transitional fossils."<ref>http://www.talkorigins.org/faqs/quotes/mine/part1-3.html#quote56</ref>

 

“Paleontologists have tried to turn Archaeopteryx into an earth-bound, feathered dinosaur. But it’s not. It is a bird, a perching bird. And no amount of ‘paleobabble’ is going to change that.”<ref>[http://www.answersingenesis.org/docs2/4254news3-24-2000.asp]</ref>

One of the more famous alleged transitional fossils claimed by evolutionists is [[Archaeopteryx]]. Dr. [[Alan Feduccia]], a world authority on birds who believes that birds evolved from non-dinosaur archosaurs (a minority position), has claimed that “Paleontologists have tried to turn Archaeopteryx into an earth-bound, feathered dinosaur. But it’s not. It is a bird, a perching bird. And no amount of ‘paleobabble’ is going to change that.”<ref>[http://www.answersingenesis.org/docs2/4254news3-24-2000.asp]</ref>

Creationist scientists have a number of arguments against Archaeopteryx being a transitional fossil find.<ref>[http://www.answersingenesis.org/docs2/4254news3-24-2000.asp]</ref><ref>[http://www.answersingenesis.org/creation/v1/i1/archaeopteryx.asp]</ref><ref>[http://www.icr.org/article/321/]</ref><ref>[http://www.creationontheweb.com/content/view/3833/106/]</ref>

Creationist scientists have criticized the idea that Archaeopteryx is a transitional fossil.<ref>[http://www.answersingenesis.org/docs2/4254news3-24-2000.asp]</ref><ref>[http://www.answersingenesis.org/creation/v1/i1/archaeopteryx.asp]</ref><ref>[http://www.icr.org/article/321/]</ref><ref>[http://www.creationontheweb.com/content/view/3833/106/]</ref>

A second famous alleged transitional fossil claimed by evolutionists is [[Tiktaalik]]. Creationists have a number of arguments regarding the fossil find of Tiktaalik not being a transitional find. <ref>http://www.creationontheweb.com/content/view/4250</ref><ref>http://www.icr.org/article/2962/</ref><ref>http://www.answersingenesis.org/docs2007/0307tiktaalik.asp</ref>

A second famous alleged transitional fossil is [[Tiktaalik]], held to be a transitional species between fish and amphibian. Creationists have objected to this as well. <ref>http://www.creationontheweb.com/content/view/4250</ref><ref>http://www.icr.org/article/2962/</ref><ref>http://www.answersingenesis.org/docs2007/0307tiktaalik.asp</ref>

== The Fossil Record and the Creationist Position  ==

== The Fossil Record and the Creationist Position  ==

Creationist can cite quotations which assert that no solid fossil evidence for the [[macroevolution]]ary position exists and also show that the fossil record supports creationism:

Some creationists cite quotations (rather than evidence), asserting that no solid fossil evidence for the [[macroevolution]]ary position exists and claiming that the fossil record instead supports creationism:

"In any case, no real evolutionist, whether gradualist or [[Theory of Punctuated Equilibrium|punctuationist]], uses the fossil record as evidence in favour of the theory of evolution as opposed to special creation." Mark Ridley (Professor of Zoology at [[Oxford University]]), 'Who doubts evolution?', New Scientist, vol. 90, 25 June 1981, p. 831  

"In any case, no real evolutionist, whether gradualist or [[Theory of Punctuated Equilibrium|punctuationist]], uses the fossil record as evidence in favour of the theory of evolution as opposed to special creation." Mark Ridley (Professor of Zoology at [[Oxford University]]), 'Who doubts evolution?', New Scientist, vol. 90, 25 June 1981, p. 831