Anyway, chapter 6 is “Life’s Origins”, chapter 7 is “Cambrian ‘Explosion’ – or Slow Fuse?”, chapter 8 is “Spineless Wonders of Evolution”, chapter 9 is “Fish Tales”, etc. Page after page of examples and explanations and Prothero knows his stuff. Agree or disagree at least reading it will give you some of the best arguments and evidence outside of professional journals.

ellazim

Thanks for the reference. I could not find that exact title on Amazon UK. The closest was:

Evolution: What the Fossils Say and Why It Matters by Donald R. Prothero and Carl Buel

Which had excellent reader feedback. I guess that is the same thing?

Gould was hypothesizing an explanation for why some forms are very likely to be missing from the fossil record which I found very plausible. He was not arguing against a mostly gradual unguided evolutionary process as Richard Dawkins has discussed in The Blind Watchmaker. I have read the quotes from Gould about there being holes in the fossil record many times and I know that he still found the fossil evidence to be in support of common descent with modification.

The way I see it is: Fossilization is a rare thing except for certain types of creatures that happen to live in certain areas. There are going to be gaps, lots of gaps. It’s inevitable. Some animals, like tapeworms, have NO fossil record at all. Still though, we have lots of well represented lines of descent; the whale sequence is a good example.

The real question is: does the fossil record contradict common descent with modification? No, it does not. A gap is not a contradiction; it’s no data. It does not mean there was no transition, it means we don’t have a record of it.

Could the fossil record contradict common descent with modification? Yes, certainly. Any fossil appearing well out of the expected sequence would begin to cast doubt. Has that happened? Not yet.

I know we have all heard this before and we have mostly all heard the arguments and counter arguments many times before. But you asked so I complied. If you really are interested in a very good, very clear, very extensive (for a popular book) discussion of the fossil record then I recommend Prothero’s book. It’s about two years old and therefore fairly up-to-date as well.

Alien baby in Mexico? I watched a youtube video . . . when it gets written up in a proper journal let me know. The picture I saw reminded me of a new world monkey juvenile.

Yes please go into this, keeping in mind Gould.

Also, what do you think of the alien baby found in Mexico?

I think that ERVs are interesting but I do not think they support universal common descent.

And they certainly do not support any position based on unguided processes.

Dawkins did say we don’t need fossils so I was just broadening the conversation.

I was going to attempt to discuss why I don’t think the fossil record contradicts an unguided evolutionary process but it sounds like lots of folks have already made up their minds.

Better stated would be “but there just so happens to be a fossil record, and it contradicts. The fact that it contradicts theory is a different point, and more important point.”

Now of course here comes the pullback to “evolution” meaning nothing to do with NDE, or ID. All you “evolution is a fact” people should also state your religion, it’s an old old game.