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Author Topic:   The Creation/Evolution dividing line
Gary
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Message 24 of 65 (147856)
10-06-2004 4:22 PM
Reply to: Message 21 by Robert Byers
10-05-2004 4:55 PM


kind change
Although there is no evidence that kinds exist, what type of change would you be looking for? Speciation can occur in only a short time in some species, like mousquitos.
If by "kind change", you are looking for a very large change, this cannot occur in a period of time that is easily measured by humans monitoring the organisms to be changed. It can be documented in the fossil record though, using transitional fossils.
Ambulocetus, for example, was a mammal that lived in much the same way alligators and crocodiles do today. It lived in shallow water and ate smaller animals, in what is now Pakistan. This creature bore many similarities with crocodiles, as caused by convergent evolution. Ambulocetus, however, was an ancestor of modern whales. It could leave the water if it wanted, much like crocodiles can now, but this ability has been lost in modern whales.
We know that Ambulocetus is related to the whales because of various skull structures. For example, it shares a structure with whales that let it swallow underwater, and it had an S-shaped ear bone that is also found in whales, among other features.
This is not simply an isolated matter of convergent evolution. There are numerous other fossil animals linking Ambulocetus with the whales, as transitional fossils. These include Rodhocetus, Basilosaurus isis, Prozeuglodon, Eocetus, and many others. There are also some related fossils older than Ambulocetus.
I'm not saying every fossil of a whale ever found is directly related to a current whale, many probably belong to dead lineages. However, there is a pretty clear line that can be drawn from shallow-water dwelling mammals that could walk on land to whales that stay in the ocean their whole lives. I would say that that is about the closest thing to "kind change" that exists.

This message is a reply to:
 Message 21 by Robert Byers, posted 10-05-2004 4:55 PM Robert Byers has replied

Replies to this message:
 Message 27 by Loudmouth, posted 10-08-2004 4:08 PM Gary has not replied
 Message 28 by Robert Byers, posted 10-08-2004 4:09 PM Gary has not replied

  
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