Evidences for Evolution:The Fossil Record

Fossils: the naturally preserved remains, imprints, or traces of organisms that lived

long ago.paleontologist: a scientist who studies fossils.Fossil Record: All of the fossils collected and placed into categories based on how deep they were found in the rock strata (layers).

Deeper usually means older.

Fossil Record Continued

• Impressions or indentations of an organism are called molds or casts. The organism was buried in mud, the mud hardened into rock, and when the rock is split open, an impression of the organism is left.

The Fossil Record – Evidence for Evolution?

• Fossils are very rare. When plants and animals die, they usually decompose and become part of the earth.

• Usually the deeper down you dig in the rock layers, the longer ago the animal died.

• If the organism is buried in mud quickly, water in the mud seeps into its cells and deposits minerals, replacing the cells with mineral rock.

This process is called permineralization

The Fossil Record – Evidence for Evolution?• "All these causes taken conjointly, just have

tended to make the geological record extremely imperfect, and will to a large extent explain why we do not find interminable varieties, connecting together all the extinct and existing forms of life by the finest graduated steps. He who rejects these views on the nature of the geological record, will rightly reject my whole theory.”

Charles Darwin, Origin of Species, p 342

• He’s saying that scientists didn’t have enough fossils at the time (November 1859) to support his theory.

• He admits there are no transitional fossils – but is hoping they just haven’t found them yet.

Fossil Record – Evidence for Evolution?• How many fossils do we have now?• Most large Natural History Museums have a

collection of several million. • Most universities have several hundred

thousand in their collections.

Thousands of the same kinds of plants and animals have been discovered.

Fossil Record – Evidence for Evolution?

• If Evolution is driven by tiny changes over millions of years, we should have just as many transitional fossils as we do regular fossils of plants and animals that are alive today.

• “interminable varieties, connecting together all the extinct and existing forms of life by the finest graduated steps”

Charles Darwin

• “Interminable” means endless – unending - infinite

• Each color represents findings in the fossil record. Red represents fish, orange represents lizards, yellow represents rats, green represents bats, etc…

Fish

Liza

rds

Rats

Bats

Darwin was expecting something much different:

In our color example, where does red stop and orange start?It should be the same way with the fossil record, but it’s not.

Fossil Record – Evidence for Evolution?

• In his book “The Origin of Species” Charles Darwin writes: Why is not every geological formation and every stratum full of such intermediate links? Geology assuredly does not reveal any such finely graduated organic chain; and this is the most obvious and serious objection which can be urged against the theory.”

Living Fossils• Horseshoe Crab fossil – supposed to be 450

million years old. Found in deep rock strata. No different from horseshoe crabs alive today.

• Starfish fossil – supposedly 100 to 150 million years old. Found in deep rock strata. The fossil looks just like starfish we see alive today.

• Same with 400 million year old oyster fossils.• Same with bacteria fossils.• Same with scorpion fossils. • Same with insect fossils.• Same with dragonfly fossils.• Same with shrimp fossils.

Examples of Living FossilsGinkgos have not only existed on this planet for a long time, but also have a long life span as well, with some having reached the age of over 2,500 years. Six specimens have even been known to survive the A-bomb at Hiroshima, 1-2 km from ground zero; they still live there today.

Bacteria Stromatolite, a layered structure created as sediment is trapped by shallow-water, oxygen-creating, blue-green bacteria

Plants Amborellaceae – a plant from New Caledonia, possibly closest to base of the flowering plants Araucaria araucana – the Monkey Puzzle tree Cycads Ginkgo tree (Ginkgoaceae) Horsetails – Equisetum (Equisetaceae) Metasequoia – Dawn Redwood (Cupressaceae; a borderline example, related to Sequoia and Sequoiadendron) Sciadopitys tree (Sciadopityaceae) Liquidambar – tree (Altingiaceae) Whisk ferns – Psilotum (Psilotaceae) Welwitschia (Welwitschiaceae) Wollemia tree (Araucariaceae – a borderline example, related to Agathis and Araucaria)[7][8]

Fungi Neolecta

Animals Vertebrates Echidnas are one of few mammals to lay eggs. Hoatzin are born with two visible claws on their wings, but they fall out once they reach maturity. Crocodilians survived the K-T extinction that killed off the dinosaurs. Tuataras are reptiles, yet retain more primitive characteristics than either lizards or snakes.

Mammals Aardvark (Orycteropus afer) Amami rabbit (Pentalagus furnessi) Chevrotain (Tragulidae) Cypriot mouse (Mus cypriacus) Elephant shrew (Macroscelidea) Laotian Rock Rat (Laonastes aenigmamus) Iriomote cat (Prionailurus iriomotensis) Monito del Monte (Dromiciops gliroides) Monotremes (the platypus and echidna) Mountain beaver (Aplodontia rufa) Okapi (Okapia johnstoni)[9] Opossums (Didelphidae) Capybara (Hydrochoerus hydrochaeris) Asian Elephant (Elephas maximus) Przewalski's horse (Equus przewalskii) Pygmy Hippo (Choeropsis liberiensis) Pygmy right whale (Caperea marginata) Red Panda (Ailurus fulgens) Solenodon (Solenodon cubanus and Solenodon paradoxus) Shrew Opossum (Caenolestidae) Sumatran Rhinoceros (Dicerorhinus sumatrensis)

Birds Pelicans have been virtually unchanged since the Eocene, and are noted to have been even more conservative across the Cenozoic than crocodiles[10] Acanthisittidae (New Zealand "wrens") – 2 living species, a few more recently extinct. Distinct lineage of Passeriformes. Broad-billed Sapayoa (Sapayoa aenigma) – One living species. Distinct lineage of Tyranni. Bearded Reedling (Panurus biarmicus) – One living species. Distinct lineage of Passerida or Sylvioidea. Coliiformes (mousebirds) – 6 living species in 2 genera. Distinct lineage of Neoaves. Hoatzin (Ophisthocomus hoazin) – One living species. Distinct lineage of Neoaves. Magpie Goose (Anseranas semipalmata) – One living species. Distinct lineage of Anseriformes. Seriema (Cariamidae) – 2 living species. Distinct lineage Cariamae. Andean Condor (Vultur gryphus) and California Condor (Gymnogyps californianus) is a two living members of the New World Vultures. Osprey (Pandion haliaetus) and Northern Crested Caracara (Caracara plancus) are two living members of the Raptor family. Razorbill (Alca torda) - The closest relative to the now-extinct Great Auk. Secretarybird (Sagittarius serpentarius)

Reptiles Alligator Snapping Turtle (Macrochelys temminckii) Crocodilia (crocodiles, gavials and alligators) Pig-nosed turtle (Carettochelys insculpta) Snapping Turtle (Chelydra serpentina) Tuatara (Sphenodon punctatus and Sphenodon guntheri)

Amphibians Giant salamanders (Cryptobranchus, and Andrias) Purple frog (Nasikabatrachus sahyadrensis)

Jawless fish Hagfish (Myxinidae) Family Northern Brook Lamprey (Ichthyomyzon fossor)

Fish Arowana and Arapaima (Osteoglossidae) Bowfin (Amia calva) Coelacanth (the lobed-finned Latimeria menadoensis and Latimeria chalumnae) Gar (Lepisosteidae) Queensland lungfish (Neoceratodus fosteri) Sturgeons and Paddlefish (Acipenseriformes) Bichir (Polypteridae) Family Protanguilla palau Mudskipper (Oxudercinae)

Sharks Blind shark (Brachaelurus waddi) Bullhead shark (Heterodontus sp.) Elephant shark (Callorhinchus milii) Frilled shark (Chlamydoselachus sp.) Goblin Shark (Mitsukurina owstoni) Gulper Shark (Centrophorus sp.)

Invertebrates Nautilus still retain the external, spiral shell that its other relatives have lost. With little change over the last 450 million years, the horseshoe crabs appear as living fossils

Insects Mantophasmatodea (gladiators; a few living species) Meropeidae (3 living species, 4 extinct) Micromalthus debilis (a beetle) Mymarommatid wasps (10 living species in genus Palaeomymar) Nevrorthidae (3 species-poor genera) Notiothauma reedi (a scorpionfly relative) Orussidae (parasitic wood wasps; about 70 living species in 16 genera) Peloridiidae (peloridiid bugs; fewer than 30 living species in 13 genera) Sikhotealinia zhiltzovae (a jurodid beetle) Syntexis libocedrii (Anaxyelidae cedar wood wasp)

Crustaceans Glypheoidea (2 living species: Neoglyphea inopinata and Laurentaeglyphea neocaledonica) Stomatopods (mantis shrimp) Triops cancriformis (also known as tadpole shrimp; a notostracan crustacean)

Molluscs Nautilina (e.g. Nautilus pompilius) Neopilina galatheae, a monoplacophoran Ennucula superba – nut clam Vampyroteuthis infernalis – Vampire Squid Other invertebrates Crinoids Horseshoe crabs (only 4 living species of the class Xiphosura, family Limulidae: Limulus polyphemus,Tachypleus gigas, Tachypleus tridentatus and Carcinoscorpius rotundicauda) Lingula anatina (an inarticulate brachiopod) Liphistiidae (trapdoor spiders) Onychophorans Valdiviathyris quenstedti (a craniforman brachiopod) Paleodictyon nodosum (unknown)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Living_fossil

The Evolution of the Horse

But wait! My textbook and Science teacher tell me about transitional fossils with the horse!

Didn’t the horse evolve from a small dog-sized animal millions of years ago?

Horse Evolution - Fossils

• Are earliest horse fossils found in the deepest rock layers? What would you expect to find?

• No – they’re found at or near the surface, sometimes next to modern horse fossils.

• In National Geographic (January 1981, p. 74), there is a picture of the foot of a so-called early horse, Pliohippus, and one of the modern Equus that were found at the same volcanic dig site in Nebraska.

HORSE SIZEThe evolutionists assume that the horse has grown progressively in size over millions of years but what they forget is that modern day horses vary enormously in size.

The largest horse today is the Clydesdale and the smallest is the Fallabella, which stands only 17 inches tall. Both are members of the same species, and neither has evolved from the other.

An evolutionist digging up the small horse fossil would incorrectly assume that it is the ancestor of the large horse.

Horse Evolution – Size!

Archaeopteryx…transition from reptile to

bird?

Archaeopteryx has claws on its wing tips… just like some birds we see flying around today – the hoatzin, the touraco, and the ostrich.

Birds with Teeth?• While modern birds do not possess true teeth, some

ancient birds had teeth, while some others did not. • Some reptiles have teeth, some don’t.• Some amphibians have teeth, some don’t.• Some fish have teeth, some don’t.• Some mammals have teeth, some don’t.

• Just because Archaeopteryx had teeth – does this mean its ancestors were reptiles?

• Or does it simply mean some ancient birds had teeth, while others did not?

LUCY – Transitional Fossil?

A Lucy Makeover?

Artists’ efforts to design faces from fossils aren’t all science. This work requires lots of imagination to fill in the blanks not preserved in the fossil record—skin color, hair color, eyes, thickness of hair, etc. Indeed, these choices are heavily influenced by the effect the artist desires.

Lucy the ape-woman?

There are well over a hundred different interpretations of Lucy. Notice how subtle changes in eye color or nose shape can make her look more or less human. Even the expression on her face or the child in her arms influences our impression of her.

Where were Lucy’s Bones Found?• First bone found was knee joint – it looked human

– like it could walk upright.• A year later, more bones were found over 1.5

miles away and over 200 ft. deeper in the rock strata.

• The pelvis didn’t look like it could support upright walking – so the team declared it “misshapen” and reconstructed it.

• After breaking it into pieces and reconstructing them it appeared able to support upright walking.

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/transcripts/2106hum1.html

Human Footprints

• Human footprints were found in the same region (Laetoli).

• But they were found in much “older” rock than Lucy’s bones were found.

• Human footprints shouldn’t be older than “the early human ancestors.”

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laetoli#The_footprints

Transitional Fossils?

• We’ve looked at a few transitional fossils that are supposed to be evidence for evolution.

• These fossils have serious problems – should they be used as examples of links between animals?

• "If it could be demonstrated that any complex organ existed, which could not possibly have been formed by numerous, successive, slight modifications, my theory would absolutely break down.”

Charles Darwin

Other Fossils• There are other fossils that are supposed to support

evolution – but there are serious problems with each one of them. Three of the most famous with links to descriptions of their problems are listed below:

• Ardipithicus ramidus

(Michael D. Lemonick and Andrea Dorfman, "Excavating Ardi: A New Piece for the Puzzle of Human Evolution," Time Magazine (October 1, 2009).)

(Ann Gibbons, "A New Kind of Ancestor: Ardipithecus Unveiled," Science, Vol. 326:36-40 (Oct. 2, 2009).)

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2009/10/091001-oldest-human-skeleton-ardi-missing-link-chimps- ardipithecus-ramidus.html

• Pakicetus (J. G. M. Thewissen, E. M. Williams, L. J. Roe, & S. T. Hussain, "Skeletons of terrestrial cetaceans and the relationship ofwhales to artiodactyls," Nature, Vol. 413:277-281 (September 20, 2001).)

• Tiktaalik roseae Clack & Ahlberg, Nature 440:748