Post by Dave on May 8, 2012 9:35:11 GMT -5
In fact, "As is now well known, most fossil species appear instantaneously in the fossil record." (Kemp, Tom: Curator of Zoological Collections at the Oxford University Museum, "A Fresh Look at the Fossil Record," 1985, p. 66, New Scientist, Vol. 108, No. 1485)
“Most families, orders, classes, and phyla appear rather suddenly in the fossil record, often without anatomically intermediate forms smoothly interlinking evolutionarily derived descendant taxa with their presumed ancestors.” (Eldredge, N., Macro-Evolutionary Dynamics: Species, Niches, and Adaptive Peaks, 1989, p. 22, McGraw-Hill Publishing Company, New York)
An estimated 75 to 100 phyla appear explosively at the base of the Cambrian. Fossil evidence suggesting their common ancestry is not found in Precambrian rocks. A General Theory of Macrostasis is needed to explain the fossil data and the stability of the higher taxa.
"The history of most fossil species include two features particularly inconsistent with gradualism:
1) Stasis - most species exhibit no directional change during their tenure on earth. They appear in the fossil record looking much the same as when they disappear; morphological change is usually limited and directionless;
2) Sudden appearance - in any local area, a species does not arise gradually by the steady transformation of its ancestors; it appears all at once and 'fully formed'." (Gould, S.J., "Evolution's Erratic Pace," 1977, Natural History, vol. 86, May)
“Most families, orders, classes, and phyla appear rather suddenly in the fossil record, often without anatomically intermediate forms smoothly interlinking evolutionarily derived descendant taxa with their presumed ancestors.” (Eldredge, N., Macro-Evolutionary Dynamics: Species, Niches, and Adaptive Peaks, 1989, p. 22, McGraw-Hill Publishing Company, New York)
An estimated 75 to 100 phyla appear explosively at the base of the Cambrian. Fossil evidence suggesting their common ancestry is not found in Precambrian rocks. A General Theory of Macrostasis is needed to explain the fossil data and the stability of the higher taxa.
"The history of most fossil species include two features particularly inconsistent with gradualism:
1) Stasis - most species exhibit no directional change during their tenure on earth. They appear in the fossil record looking much the same as when they disappear; morphological change is usually limited and directionless;
2) Sudden appearance - in any local area, a species does not arise gradually by the steady transformation of its ancestors; it appears all at once and 'fully formed'." (Gould, S.J., "Evolution's Erratic Pace," 1977, Natural History, vol. 86, May)
