Hey everyone! Sorry for being a day late on this one. I'm still trying to get used to having a blog. Anyways, here's my first chapter summary, summarizing the first chapter from the book Exploring Evolution. Enjoy!
If one could split open the earth's crust anywhere in the world, different layers of rock and sediment that often include fossils of various types would be revealed. These layers, called strata, and the plants and animals that have been preserved in them, are called the fossil record. One of the deepest layers of the fossil record is called the Cambrian layer. In the Cambrian layer, all of the different types of animal fossils suddenly appear, which fact scientists call the Cambrian Explosion. Below the Cambrian layer is the Precambrian layer. The Precambrian layer only has a few fossils, some of which are trace fossils. Trace fossils are preserved tracks or tunnels that creatures have left behind.
The fossils of a certain species appear abruptly in the record, show little to no change where they appear throughout the strata, and then disappear abruptly from the record. There are no proven transitional forms, which are fossils of creatures in the process of evolving from one species to another, and there are also few possible transitional forms. Even though these facts never change, there are two different interpretations of the fossil record.
The evolutionists believe that it takes millions of years for creatures to evolve. Because of this, they believe that each layer of the fossil record represents millions of years. However, opponents of evolution believe that the layers do not necessarily represent millions of years.
Evolutionary theory states that all creatures slowly evolved from a common ancestor, so the record should look like a large branching tree. However, opponents of evolution point out that the Cambrian Explosion contradicts that idea, because all types of creatures appear suddenly and fully formed.
The Precambrian layer is right below the Cambrian layer. There are few fossils in this layer, some of which are trace fossils. This contradicts what the evolutionists think about common descent. If common descent were true, there should be many more fossils in the Precambrian layer than there are. The evolutionists try to get past this problem by saying that the Precambrian creatures were too small and soft to be preserved. There are two problems with that. One is that we have recently found microscopic soft-bodied creatures that were completely preserved. The other is that even if the creatures were too small and soft to be preserved, they should have left many trace fossils and holes in the sediment where they were when they decomposed.
Evolutionists believe that the different types of animals evolved from one to another, so the fossil record should show each species of animal evolving into another species. However, opponents of evolution point out that each species of animal appears abruptly, shows little to no change wherever it is found, and then just as abruptly disappears. This contradicts the evolutionists, because if their theory was true, then the species should be changing into other species, but instead the fossil record shows little to no change in the species.
Also, if species continued to evolve, there should be what evolutionists call transitional forms, which are fossils of creatures in the process of evolving from one species into another. The only problem is that we have not found any proven transitional forms and have found very few fossils that could possibly be transitional forms.
The evolutionists try to solve this problem several different ways. One way they try to explain the lack of transitional forms is the theory of Punctuated Equilibrium, which says that the evolutionary process happened so fast that there were few transitional forms to begin with. Evolutionists also say that some of the transitional forms may have been destroyed, leaving only one or two that were fossilized. However, they cannot explain how creatures evolved from one species to another in such a short time.
Another way evolutionists try to explain why we are not finding transitional forms is that we simply have not dug up enough fossils yet. However, we have found a large number of fossils, and they are all fossils of fully formed species. Also, all the fossils we are finding are of fully formed species.
Evolutionists often speak as if their theories have been proven, but the fact remains that not all of the scientific evidence supports their theories. Scientists who carefully examine all of the facts often find themselves with a different interpretation, one which recognizes that the evolutionary theories are wrong. Far from being proven, evolutionary theory is still very much open to debate.
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