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Dec. 28, 2005 I have little patience or tolerance for ignorance, especially in adults born and raised in a modern industrial society where opportunity for a rudimentary understanding of science is easily attainable. Yet, half of Americans think the earth is less than ten thousand years old, and they have doubts about the theory of evolution, the basis for all biological science. Instead, many believe in creationism and its newest reincarnation--intelligent design. (And if anybody doesn't think creationsim and ID are one and the same, than they need to read this quote from William Dembski, a senior fellow at the Discovery Institute, a think tank that promotes intelligent design "research." He made this statement after a Pennsylvania court judge struck down the teaching of ID in schools. "This galvanizes the Christian community. People I'm talking to say we're going to be raising a whole lot more funds now.") The reason people prefer to believe in the junk and fairy tales that comprise creationism/ID is because the theory of evolution interferes with their idiotic belief in a literal translation of the bible. When proponents of creationism copy nonsense from creationist websites, they prove that they have a gross misunderstanding of science, a lack of general science knowledge, and the intellectual capacity of a gullible hillbilly. One of their points--that there are no transitional species or fossils--is absurd. There are literally tens of thousands of transitional species. Here are a few examples. First, it is not even necessary to look in the fossil record because there are many extant animals that could be considered transitional. The nudibranch seems like the perfect archetype of a transition between invertebrate and vertebrate. Lungfish appear to be evolving from an aquatic form to a land form; conversely seals seem to be in transition from a land form to an aquatic form. I challenge any creationist to look at the stage one embryos of fish, salamanders, turtles, chickens, hogs, cows, rabbits, and humans and try to discern a difference. There are many transitional fossil species between fish and amphibians. Ichthyostega is perhaps one of the best examples. This animal had both hands and feet and most of its anatomical characteristics were amphibian, but it had a functional lateral line system (a sensory system found only in fishes) along with some skull bones also indicative of the fish family. The mammal like reptiles were common before and during the age when dinosaurs dominated earth. The name alone is telling--some scientists consider mammals to simply be specialized cynodont reptiles with fur and jaw joints. Sinucodon and Morganucodon are perfect intermediates between reptiles and mammals. Sinucodon is considered a mammal but retained the reptile characteristic of unlimited replacement teeth. The embryos of opposums have an ear bone stucture exactly like the kind found on Morganucodon, but once possums develop, the ear bone structure transforms into the kind found in modern mammals. The extant animal group, the monotremes (egg laying mammals), resemble the mammal like reptiles as well. There is no doubt among scientists that birds and reptiles share a common ancestry. Most scientists believe birds evolved from dinosaurs, but some think birds evolved from some other group of reptiles. Archaeopteryx is another excellent example of a transitional species. In this species anatomical similarities between both birds and reptiles are well documented. There is even some evidence of dinosaurs with feathers. The fossil history of whales is now well known. DNA tests show that their closest living relative is the hippopatamus. Is it just coincidence that this animal is partially aquatic? Once can see the evolution of whales in the bones of Pakicetus, Ambulocetus, Protocetus, and basilosaurus and recognize the progression to modern whales. Some modern whale species occasionally even have vestigial limbs. Homo Heidelbergensis is the transitional species between us (Homo Sapiens) and Homo Erectus. H. Heidelbergensis is a common fossil found throughout Europe and Africa. They have primitive features like large brow ridges, low frontal bones, and robust chinless mandibles, but they have advanced features such as larger brain volumes, rounded occipital bones, and arched brow ridges. The farther back in time, the spottier the fossil evidence of man's evolution is, but interestingly, what paleontological evidence we have is consistent with DNA hybridization tests. Both of these completely separate scientific disciplines provide evidence that ancestors to man diverged from ancestors of chimpanzees six to eight million years ago. And, of course, evolution is still occurring. In the laboratory scientists have been able to achieve speciation of fruit flies in less than twenty generations. Here are some examples of ongoing evolution in the wild: The North American apple maggot fly has evolved in the last three hundred years from an insect that fomerly only infested wild hawthorns. A grass has evolved in our liftimes that is able to survive on copper poisoned soil over strip mines. And speciation is occurring in the divergence of landlocked kokanee salmon from ocean going sockeye salmon. Paleontologists use cladistics--the comparative study of anatomy--to place living organisms in the tree of life, and now DNA hybridization tests are consistent with most of their findings. The fossil record and the extant world are abundantly populated with transitional species, and with each discovery of new fossils, this record only becomes more complete. Creationists must give up their nonsensical claim that there are no transitional fossils. ------------ About the author Mark Gelbart: My book, Talk Radio, is a black comedy about a radio talk show host who gets kidnapped and psychologically tortured by a loser. www.mark-gelbart.com Email: agelbart@aol.com Tell a friend about this site! ------------ All articles are EXCLUSIVE to Useless-Knowledge.com and are not allowed to be posted on other websites. ARTICLE THIEVES WILL BE PROSECUTED! |
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