Difference between revisions of "Vestigial structures"
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Examples of vestigial structures include, but are not limited to, the [[human]] [[appendix]]<ref>http://www.medterms.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=11555</ref>, the [[wing]]s of an [[ostrich]], the [[pelvis|pelvic]] bones of [[whale]]s and [[boa]]s <ref>http://www.1911encyclopedia.org/Boa</ref>, and the [[eye]]s of the [[mole]] and cave-dwelling [[salamander]]s.<ref>http://www.bookrags.com/research/vestigial-structures-wap/</ref> | Examples of vestigial structures include, but are not limited to, the [[human]] [[appendix]]<ref>http://www.medterms.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=11555</ref>, the [[wing]]s of an [[ostrich]], the [[pelvis|pelvic]] bones of [[whale]]s and [[boa]]s <ref>http://www.1911encyclopedia.org/Boa</ref>, and the [[eye]]s of the [[mole]] and cave-dwelling [[salamander]]s.<ref>http://www.bookrags.com/research/vestigial-structures-wap/</ref> | ||
| − | + | In the view of secular evolutionists, vestigial structures are some of the best evidence in favor of [[evolution]] and against [[Intelligent Design]] because they believe they are explained by [[natural selection]], but it is difficult to justify why an intelligent [[creator]] would include seemingly useless structures in the design of [[organism]]s. Proponents of a creation or intelligent design model would counter that current human knowledge is finite and seemingly useless does not mean it doesn't have a meaningful function that has currently not been discovered. Indeed, other structures believed to be useless in the past were later found to have uses. In the case of [[creationists]], there is the added element of [[the fall]], where it is understood current conditions are not the way God originally designed. Natural selection is also a two way street. Why wouldn't the structures that serve no discernable purpose been weeded out over millions of years of evolution? | |
==External Links== | ==External Links== | ||
Revision as of 18:12, May 23, 2007
Vestigial structures are those anatomical structures which have no discernable function in their present form in modern species, but may have had a function in that species' ancestors.[1]
Examples of vestigial structures include, but are not limited to, the human appendix[2], the wings of an ostrich, the pelvic bones of whales and boas [3], and the eyes of the mole and cave-dwelling salamanders.[4]
In the view of secular evolutionists, vestigial structures are some of the best evidence in favor of evolution and against Intelligent Design because they believe they are explained by natural selection, but it is difficult to justify why an intelligent creator would include seemingly useless structures in the design of organisms. Proponents of a creation or intelligent design model would counter that current human knowledge is finite and seemingly useless does not mean it doesn't have a meaningful function that has currently not been discovered. Indeed, other structures believed to be useless in the past were later found to have uses. In the case of creationists, there is the added element of the fall, where it is understood current conditions are not the way God originally designed. Natural selection is also a two way street. Why wouldn't the structures that serve no discernable purpose been weeded out over millions of years of evolution?
External Links
- Modern Evolutionary Theory versus Intelligent Design: Vestigial Structures/Evolutionary Remnants
- Dembski's blissful misunderstanding of design