The Question of Transitional Forms (Question 13)

In question 13, John Rennie attempts to deal with the problem of transitional forms, one of the major stumbling blocks facing the theory of evolution, and is similarly unable to provide a satisfactory response. The following shows the true position of the "intermediate forms" he suggests:

Archaeopteryx: Rennie writes that Archaeopteryx, a candidate for the title of the greatest transitional form of all time, was an intermediate form between reptiles and birds, but that "creationists" refuse to accept this, calling it "just an extinct bird with reptilian features." The fact is, however, that it is not only "creationists" who say that, but also world-renowned ornithologists who have examined the matter in great detail. Alan Feduccia, one of the foremost names in ornithology, shares that view regarding Archaeopteryx.

"Feathered Dinos" were not feathered at all, like the fossil forgery above, Archaeoraptor
In fact, a considerable body of evidence has emerged to demonstrate the invalidity of the claim that Archaeopteryx was a transitional form. As Feduccia has stated, "Most recent workers who have studied various anatomical features of Archaeopteryx have found the creature to be much more birdlike than previously imagined," and "the resemblance of Archaeopteryx to theropod dinosaurs has been grossly overestimated."(6) Another problem regarding Archaeopteryx is that the theropod dinosaurs, which many evolutionists regard as its ancestors, emerge after Archaeopteryx in the fossil record, and not before it.

On the other hand, the tale of "feathered dinosaurs" that John Rennie refers to is nothing more than evolutionist speculation. All of the fossils that have been put forward as "feathered dinosaurs" in the last 10 years are debatable. Detailed studies have revealed that the structures portrayed as "feathers" are actually collagen fibers.(7) Such speculation all stems from evolutionist prejudice. As Feduccia has said, "Many dinosaurs have been portrayed with a coating of aerodynamic contour feathers with absolutely no documentation."(8) (One of the so-called 'feathered dinosaurs' in question, namely Archaeoraptor, turned out to be a fossil forgery). Feduccia sums the position up in these terms, "Finally, no feathered dinosaur has ever been found, although many dinosaur mummies with well-preserved skin are known from diverse localities." (9)

Horse Series: The horse series that John Rennie portrayed as an important proof of evolution is actually a terrible blunder on his part. That is because the horse series that makes up a so-called evolutionary process from Eohippus to the present-day horse (Equus) has actually been accepted as erroneous by a great many evolutionist authorities. For example, evolutionist science writer Gordon R. Taylor acknowledged that "... the line from Eohippus to Equus is very erratic. It is alleged to show a continual increase in size, but the truth is that some variants were smaller than Eohippus, not larger. Specimens from different sources can be brought together in a convincing-looking sequence, but there is no evidence that these were actually ranged in this order in time." (10)

The Origin of Whales: Rennie also includes the scenario concerning the evolution of whales as an example of proven evolution. Yet that, too, is nothing more than evolutionist speculation. There are great morphological differences between the land mammal Ambulocetus and such archaic whales as Rodhocetus, the alleged descendant of the former. The details of the matter were examined in my article "A Whale Fantasy from National Geographic"

The Origin of Molluscs: This, also glossed over by Rennie as an example of evolution, is actually another dilemma facing the theory. These shelled creatures that make up the phylum Mollusca are divided into eight separate classes, and all of these emerged suddenly in the Cambrian Period, just like most living phyla and classes. Even the determinedly evolutionist Encyclopedia Britannica accepts that there is no fossil evidence for the evolution of molluscs in the words: "The fossil record gives little clue as to how the molluscs originated and how the eight classes differentiated in Precambrian times. The evolutionary pathway must thus be largely inferred from comparative anatomy and development." (11)

The Origin of Man: Rennie claims that 20 or more hominids fill the gap between Lucy and modern man. Yet the truth is that there is no line from Australopithecus to man (Homo sapiens).

One indication of this is that the categories between Australopithecus and Homo sapiens (like Homo habilis, Homo rudolfensis or Homo erectus) are exceedingly speculative and debatable. An article by the evolutionary paleoanthropologists Bernard Wood and Mark Collard, published in Science in 1999, maintained that the Homo habilis and Homo rudolfensis categories were imaginary, and that the fossils ascribed to them needed to be transferred to the genus Australopithecus.(12) Milford Wolpoff of the University of Michigan and Alan Thorne of the University of Canberra are of the belief that Homo erectus is an imaginary category, and that the fossils ascribed to it are actually variations of Homo sapiens.(13) This means that there are no other hominids between Australopithecus, an extinct species of ape, and Homo sapiens, including modern man and his racial variations. In other words, mankind has no evolutionary origins.

Another fact that invalidates the claim of a direct line between Australopithecus and modern man (Homo sapiens), is that the categories alleged to have followed one another actually lived at the same time. The latest evidence to demonstrate that was the discovery published in Science magazine that fossils named as Homo habilis, Homo ergaster and Homo erectus have lived at the same time. Reid Fleming, of the University of North Texas, who led the research, sums up the significance of that discovery in this way, "This was completely unexpected, because until now, prevailing scientific views placed habilis, ergaster and erectus into an evolutionary sequence." (14)

Molecular Biology and the Evolutionary Family Tree: Rennie must have been aware of the feeble nature of his claims on fossils, since he then sought to find support from molecular biology in his search for evidence of evolution. His argument was based on genetic similarities and he claimed that, "structures of these genes and their products diverge among species, in keeping with their evolutionary relationships."

Yes, that is indeed what evolutionists expect from molecular biology - in other words that living things closely related according to the theory of evolution will have very similar molecules. Yet the facts demonstrate the exact opposite. Recent molecular discoveries have produced results totally at odds with the 150-year-old evolutionary family tree.

According to a 1999 article by French biologists Herv Philippe and Patrick Forterre, "with more and more sequences available, it turned out that most protein phylogenies contradict each other as well as the rRNA tree." (15)

Neither the comparisons that have been made of proteins, nor those of rRNAs or of genes, confirm the premises of the theory of evolution. Carl Woese, a biologist from the University of Illinois, admits that;

No consistent organismal phylogeny has emerged from the many individual protein phylogenies so far produced. Phylogenetic incongruities can be seen everywhere in the universal tree, from its root to the major branchings within and among the various (groups) to the makeup of the primary groupings themselves. (16)

The fact that results of molecular comparisons are not in favor of, but rather opposed to, the theory of evolution is also admitted in an article called "Is it Time to Uproot the Tree of Life?" published in Science in 1999. This article by Elizabeth Pennisi states that the genetic analyses and comparisons carried out by Darwinist biologists in order to shed light o