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Line 5: − − == The lack of transitional forms == − − The late paleontologist [[Stephen Jay Gould]] said in 1977: − {{QuoteBox|The extreme rarity of transitional forms in the fossil record persists as the trade secret of paleontology.<ref>Gould, S.J., Evolution’s erratic pace, Natural History 86 (5):14, 1977 (quoted in Sarfati, Jonathan [http://www.creationontheweb.com/content/view/2610 15 ways to refute materialistic bigotry].)</ref>}} − − In 1979, the senior palaeontologist at the [[British Museum of Natural History]], [[Colin Patterson]], agreed with Gould, when asked why he didn't have any illustrations of transitional forms in his book: − {{QuoteBox|I fully agree with your comments on the lack of direct illustration of evolutionary transitions in my book. If I knew of any, fossil or living, I would certainly have included them. ... Yet Gould and the American Museum people are hard to contradict when they say there are no transitional fossils. I will lay it on the line- there is not one such fossil for which one could make a watertight argument.<ref>Sunderland, Lewis, ''Darwin's Enigma'', 1988, pp. 88-90 (Quoted in [http://www.creationontheweb.com/content/view/1918 Those fossils are a problem], ''Creation'' 14(4):44–45, September 1992).</ref>}} − − In 1984 Gould wrote the following: − {{QuoteBox|The absence of fossil evidence for intermediary stages between major transitions in organic design, indeed our inability, even in our imagination, to construct functional intermediates in many cases, has been a persistent and nagging problem for gradualistic accounts of evolution.<ref>Quoted in Sarfati, Jonathan, [http://www.creationontheweb.com/content/view/3832 Refuting Evolution], chapter 3.</ref>}} − − However, in 1994, he wrote, − {{QuoteBox|The supposed lack of intermediary forms in the fossil record remains the fundamental canard of current antievolutionism. Such transitional forms are sparse, to be sure, and for two sets of good reasons—geological (the gappiness of the fossil record) and biological (the episodic nature of evolutionary change, including patterns of punctuated equilibrium, and transition within small populations of limited geographic extent). But paleontologists have discovered several superb examples of intermediary forms and sequences, more than enough to convince any fair-minded skeptic about the reality of life's physical genealogy.<ref>Gould, Steven Jay, [http://www.stephenjaygould.org/library/gould_leviathan.html Hooking Leviathan by Its Past] ''Natural History'' 103 (May 1994): 8-15.</ref>}} Line 41:
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Let's not.
[[Creationist]]s claim that transitional forms between different kinds of creatures are systematically absent.
[[Creationist]]s claim that transitional forms between different kinds of creatures are systematically absent.
Other scientists typically reject this claim. One such attempted rebuttal is that by [[Kathleen Hunt]] who created a Transitional Vertebrate Fossil FAQ.<ref>Hunt, Kathleen, [http://www.talkorigins.org/faqs/faq-transitional.html Transitional Vertebrate Fossils FAQ] (Talk.Origins)</ref>
Other scientists typically reject this claim. One such attempted rebuttal is that by [[Kathleen Hunt]] who created a Transitional Vertebrate Fossil FAQ.<ref>Hunt, Kathleen, [http://www.talkorigins.org/faqs/faq-transitional.html Transitional Vertebrate Fossils FAQ] (Talk.Origins)</ref>
== Claims of transitional forms ==
== Claims of transitional forms ==
There are many other examples of transitional forms including: velvet worms, lancelets, synapsids, ceratopsians, giraffes, ichthyosaurs and manatees.
There are many other examples of transitional forms including: velvet worms, lancelets, synapsids, ceratopsians, giraffes, ichthyosaurs and manatees.
== Claims of a lack of transitional forms ==
Creationists claim that there is a lack of transitional forms. They use the following selective quotes in support of their claim:
The late paleontologist [[Stephen Jay Gould]] said in 1977:
{{QuoteBox|The extreme rarity of transitional forms in the fossil record persists as the trade secret of paleontology.<ref>Gould, S.J., Evolution’s erratic pace, Natural History 86 (5):14, 1977 (quoted in Sarfati, Jonathan [http://www.creationontheweb.com/content/view/2610 15 ways to refute materialistic bigotry].)</ref>}}
In 1979, the senior palaeontologist at the [[British Museum of Natural History]], [[Colin Patterson]], agreed with Gould, when asked why he didn't have any illustrations of transitional forms in his book:
{{QuoteBox|I fully agree with your comments on the lack of direct illustration of evolutionary transitions in my book. If I knew of any, fossil or living, I would certainly have included them. ... Yet Gould and the American Museum people are hard to contradict when they say there are no transitional fossils. I will lay it on the line- there is not one such fossil for which one could make a watertight argument.<ref>Sunderland, Lewis, ''Darwin's Enigma'', 1988, pp. 88-90 (Quoted in [http://www.creationontheweb.com/content/view/1918 Those fossils are a problem], ''Creation'' 14(4):44–45, September 1992).</ref>}}
In 1984 Gould wrote the following:
{{QuoteBox|The absence of fossil evidence for intermediary stages between major transitions in organic design, indeed our inability, even in our imagination, to construct functional intermediates in many cases, has been a persistent and nagging problem for gradualistic accounts of evolution.<ref>Quoted in Sarfati, Jonathan, [http://www.creationontheweb.com/content/view/3832 Refuting Evolution], chapter 3.</ref>}}
However, in 1994, he wrote,
{{QuoteBox|The supposed lack of intermediary forms in the fossil record remains the fundamental canard of current antievolutionism. Such transitional forms are sparse, to be sure, and for two sets of good reasons—geological (the gappiness of the fossil record) and biological (the episodic nature of evolutionary change, including patterns of punctuated equilibrium, and transition within small populations of limited geographic extent). But paleontologists have discovered several superb examples of intermediary forms and sequences, more than enough to convince any fair-minded skeptic about the reality of life's physical genealogy.<ref>Gould, Steven Jay, [http://www.stephenjaygould.org/library/gould_leviathan.html Hooking Leviathan by Its Past] ''Natural History'' 103 (May 1994): 8-15.</ref>}}
==See also==
==See also==