randman writes:
lack of transitionals
sudden appearance
stasis (opposite of evolution)
etc, etc,...
Here is one of my favorite, more recent quotes on this point:
"Though fossils don't provide the cinematic, step-by-step record of evolution that some ID proponents demand, the sum-total of the scientific evidence for evolution is incredibly strong”and it will only strengthen in the coming years."
Intelligent Design vs. evolution: a lopsided debate
by Adam Dylewski
Monday, November 14, 2005
http://www.dailycardinal.com/article.php?storyid=1027663
Here is just a little bit of the evidence you will find if you look around on the web.
Whale Evolution/Cetacean Evolution (Atavistic Hind Limbs on Modern Whales)
Whale Evolution and Atavistic Hind Limbs on Modern Whalesfrom
Edward T Babinski
Scrivenings
Smooth Change in the Fossil Record
Smooth Change in the Fossil Recordfrom
Don Lindsay Archive
Don Lindsay Archive
Transitional Fossil Species
http://www.origins.tv/darwin/transitionals.htmfrom
Darwinians and Evolution
http://www.origins.tv/darwin/indexpage.htm
Observed Instances of Speciation
Observed Instances of Speciationfrom
The Talk.Origins Archive
TalkOrigins Archive: Exploring the Creation/Evolution Controversy
Some More Observed Speciation Events
http://www.talkorigins.org/faqs/speciation.html(Homepage given above)
Ring Species: Unusual Demonstrations of Speciation
http://www.actionbioscience.org/evolution/irwin.htmlfrom
Action Bioscience.Org
Contact Verification Suspension Page
There actually are fairly extensive fossil records, including a series of transitionals leading from fish to reptile, reptile to bird, reptile to mammal (passing through a double-jawed stage), and of course the transitionals leading from a land mammal to whales.
As for the oblique reference to the fact that punctuated equilibria theory often appears to describe the evolution of species more accurately than traditional gradualism -- this appears to be true with species which reproduce by sexual means. As such, I would take it, a more rapid form of gradualism with genetic drift and natural selection would describe the periods of rapid evolution. But given the pronounced trends and the numerous periods of stasis which exist along these trends, the trends themselves often appear fairly continuous to the untrained eye.
PUNCTUATED EQUILIBRIUM AT TWENTY: A PALEONTOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE
By Donald R. Prothero, Ph.D.
From Skeptic vol. 1, no. 3, Fall 1992, pp. 38-47.
http://www.skeptic.com/01.3.prothero-punc-eq.html
The following two articles deal suggest that humans may have undergone
evolution which would likewise be best described by the punctuated
equilibria theory through the analysis of the human genome.
(Non-Technical)
'Punctuated' evolution in the human genome
Medical and health information
(Technical)
Periodic Explosive Expansion of Human retroelements Associated with
the Evolution of the Hominoid Primate
Tae-Min Kim, Seung-Jin Hong, Mun-Gan Rhyu
J Korean Med Sci 2004; 19: 177-85
http://jkms.kams.or.kr/2004/pdf/04177.pdf
This message has been edited by TimChase, 12-06-2005 08:36 PM
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