“Living fossils” are organisms that can be found both living in the world today and also found preserved in the rock record as fossils.
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[__ Science __ ] What About Living Fossils?
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stovebolts
Member
I found this portion of the article particularly interesting.
From the article,
Darwin predicted that organisms would change over time. However, the number of living fossil genera (albeit small compared to the large number of extinct fossil genera) is troubling from a naturalistic perspective. Perhaps organisms could resist evolutionary change over long periods of time if their environment or climate did not change; however, this is very unrealistic. From an evolutionary perspective, continents have come together and broken apart several times. There have been several “ice ages,” multiple mass extinctions, and many changes in sea level during the time intervals examined. All of these factors have been claimed as impetuses for evolutionary change. In other words, these events have been cited as causes for extinction and evolutionary change every time they occur.8 Clearly, living fossils do not support the theory of gradual evolution (sometimes called “gradualism”) as proposed by Darwin.
From the article,
Darwin predicted that organisms would change over time. However, the number of living fossil genera (albeit small compared to the large number of extinct fossil genera) is troubling from a naturalistic perspective. Perhaps organisms could resist evolutionary change over long periods of time if their environment or climate did not change; however, this is very unrealistic. From an evolutionary perspective, continents have come together and broken apart several times. There have been several “ice ages,” multiple mass extinctions, and many changes in sea level during the time intervals examined. All of these factors have been claimed as impetuses for evolutionary change. In other words, these events have been cited as causes for extinction and evolutionary change every time they occur.8 Clearly, living fossils do not support the theory of gradual evolution (sometimes called “gradualism”) as proposed by Darwin.
Barbarian
Member
What species alive today, existed a hundred million years ago? The article cites the horseshoe crab, but the species alive today are not found in the fossil record. Same with Coelacanths. It's cool that general body plans have persisted that long, but jellyfish have them all beaten in that contest, not to mention bacteria.
And Darwin's theory explains why some body plans (if not species) last for a very long time. As Darwin showed, if an environment stays relatively unchanging then a well-fitted population in that environment should not change much. Deep seas and coastal areas have had relatively little environmental change, and not surprisingly, that is where we see such things evolve. Modern coelacanths, for example, are very different from mostly freshwater populations many millions of years ago.
And Limulus, the genus of horseshoe crabs today, did not appear until the late Jurassic, while the older genera are much older, as far back as the Devonian. The modern species is, as I said, not seen in the fossil record; it evolved rather recently.
And Darwin's theory explains why some body plans (if not species) last for a very long time. As Darwin showed, if an environment stays relatively unchanging then a well-fitted population in that environment should not change much. Deep seas and coastal areas have had relatively little environmental change, and not surprisingly, that is where we see such things evolve. Modern coelacanths, for example, are very different from mostly freshwater populations many millions of years ago.
And Limulus, the genus of horseshoe crabs today, did not appear until the late Jurassic, while the older genera are much older, as far back as the Devonian. The modern species is, as I said, not seen in the fossil record; it evolved rather recently.
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Truthfrees
Member
thanks for these informative articles
stovebolts
Member
I've enjoyed reading them as well!