Actually my only point was that (to me) I think most "transitional" fossils are up for interpretation aren't they? Can the fossils be labeled transitional with 100% accuracy? That was my point. Maybe they can, maybe im just ignorant of the process of establishing which fossils are in transition and which ones arent. If there all in transition how do they know where to place them? I assume it's like a puzzle that you have no picture of and trying to fit the pieces in the best you can.
An interesting question.
We can say very definitely whether B has a form intermediate between A and C. You just need a list of features of A, B and C and a pencil. Doe
Archaeopteryx have feathers like a bird? Check. Does it have gastralia like a reptile? Check. Wings like a bird? Check. Teeth like a dinosaur? Check. And so forth. Interpretation doesn't come into it.
Now the existence of such forms tends to confirm the theory of evolution + common descent. The theory implies the past existence of transitional species, transitional species would have had intermediate forms, hence if the theory was right there would be intermediate forms; which there are, suggesting that the theory is correct.
Now, once we have been convinced by this and other evidence that the theory is correct, then we can interpret the intermediate forms in the light of the theory as being transitional species.
Maybe at this point I should add a note on the concept of interpretation. Creationists often talk as though this was an arbitrary or subjective act. It is not. A doctor will interpret ammonia on a patients breath as meaning that the patient's kidneys are failing; the "interpretation" that it was caused by the patient stubbing his toe is not available to the doctor, because the interpretation is constrained by the theory of physiology.
However, they are quite right to say that interpretation is theory-dependent --- all interpretation is. The doctor interprets the patient's breath in the light of physiological theories; and similarly it is in the light of the theory of evolution that we interpret intermediate forms as transitional species; a creationist would have to interpret them as something God magicked into existence for obscure reasons of his own.
But in pointing out that interpretation is theory-dependent creationists are missing the point. Two different things are going on here. To say that something is a transitional species is a theory-dependent interpretation of it. To say that something is an intermediate form is not an interpretation of it, it's just a plain factual description of it.
To summarize: on the one hand, the existence of intermediate forms (which is not a matter of interpretation) suggests the correctness of the theory; on the other hand the correctness of the theory suggests that intermediate forms should be interpreted in the light of the theory as being transitional species.
Edited by Dr Adequate, : No reason given.