CC200: Transitional fossils are lacking.

Detailed Response

1. There are many transitional fossils. The only way that the claim of their absence may be remotely justified, aside from ignoring the evidence completely, is to redefine "transitional" as referring to a fossil that is a direct ancestor of one organism and a direct descendant of another. However, direct lineages are not required; they could not be verified even if found. What a transitional fossil is, in keeping with what the theory of evolution predicts, is a fossil that shows a mosaic of features from an older and more recent organism.

2. Transitional fossils may coexist with gaps. We do not expect to find finely detailed sequences of fossils lasting for millions of years. Nevertheless, we do find several fine gradations of fossils between species and genera, and we find many other sequences between higher taxa that are still very well filled out.

The following are fossil transitions between species and genera:

a. Human ancestry. There are many fossils of human ancestors, and the differences between species are so gradual that it is not always clear where to draw the lines between them.

b. The horns of titanotheres (extinct Cenozoic mammals) appear in progressively larger sizes, from nothing to prominence. Other head and neck features also evolved. These features are adaptations for head-on ramming analogous to sheep behavior (Stanley 1974).

c. A gradual transitional fossil sequence connects the foraminifera Globigerinoides trilobus and Orbulina universa (Pearson et al. 1997). O. universa, the later fossil, features a spherical test surrounding a "Globigerinoides-like" shell, showing that a feature was added, not lost. The evidence is seen in all major tropical ocean basins. Several intermediate morphospecies connect the two species, as may be seen in the figure included in Lindsay (1997).

d. The fossil record shows transitions between species of Phacops (a trilobite; Phacops rana is the Pennsylvania state fossil; Eldredge 1972; 1974; Strapple 1978).

e. Planktonic forminifera (Malmgren et al. 1984). This is an example of punctuated gradualism. A ten-million-year foraminifera fossil record shows long periods of stasis and other periods of relatively rapid but still gradual morphologic change.

f. Fossils of the diatom Rhizosolenia are very common (they are mined as diatomaceous earth), and they show a continuous record of almost two million years which includes a record of a speciation event (Miller 1999, 44-45).

g. Lake Turkana mollusc species (Lewin 1981).

h. Cenozoic marine ostracodes (Cronin 1985).

i. The Eocene primate genus Cantius (Gingerich 1976, 1980, 1983).

j. Scallops of the genus Chesapecten show gradual change in one "ear" of their hinge over about 13 million years. The ribs also change (Pojeta and Springer 2001; Ward and Blackwelder 1975).

k. Gryphaea (coiled oysters) become larger and broader but thinner and flatter during the Early Jurassic (Hallam 1968).

The following are fossil transitionals between families, orders, and classes:

a. Human ancestry. Australopithecus, though its leg and pelvis bones show it walked upright, had a bony ridge on the forearm, probably vestigial, indicative of knuckle walking (Richmond and Strait 2000).

b. Dinosaur-bird transitions.

c. Haasiophis terrasanctus is a primitive marine snake with well-developed hind limbs. Although other limbless snakes might be more ancestral, this fossil shows a relationship of snakes with limbed ancestors (Tchernov et al. 2000). Pachyrhachis is another snake with legs that is related to Haasiophis (Caldwell and Lee 1997).

d. The jaws of mososaurs are also intermediate between snakes and lizards. Like the snake's stretchable jaws, they have highly flexible lower jaws, but unlike snakes, they do not have highly flexible upper jaws. Some other skull features of mososaurs are intermediate between snakes and primitive lizards (Caldwell and Lee 1997; Lee et al. 1999; Tchernov et al. 2000).

e. Transitions between mesonychids and whales.

f. Transitions between fish and tetrapods.

g. Transitions from condylarths (a kind of land mammal) to fully aquatic modern manatees. In particular, Pezosiren portelli is clearly a sirenian, but its hind limbs and pelvis are unreduced (Domning 2001a, 2001b).

h. Runcaria, a Middle Devonian plant, was a precursor to seed plants. It had all the qualities of seeds except a solid seed coat and a system to guide pollen to the seed (Gerrienne et al. 2004).

i. A bee, Melittosphex burmensis, from Early Cretaceous amber, has primitive characteristics expected from a transition between crabronid wasps and extant bees (Poinar and Danforth 2006).

The following are fossil transitionals between kingdoms and phyla:

a. The Cambrian fossils Halkiera and Wiwaxia have features that connect them with each other and with the modern phyla of Mollusca, Brachiopoda, and Annelida. In particular, one species of halkieriid has brachiopod-like shells on the dorsal side at each end. This is seen also in an immature stage of the living brachiopod species Neocrania. It has setae identical in structure to polychaetes, a group of annelids. Wiwaxia and Halkiera have the same basic arrangement of hollow sclerites, an arrangement that is similar to the chaetae arrangement of polychaetes. The undersurface of Wiwaxia has a soft sole like a mollusk's foot, and its jaw looks like a mollusk's mouth. Aplacophorans, which are a group of primitive mollusks, have a soft body covered with spicules similar to the sclerites of Wiwaxia (Conway Morris 1998, 185-195).

b. Cambrian and Precambrain fossils Anomalocaris and Opabinia are transitional between arthropods and lobopods.

c. An ancestral echinoderm has been found that is intermediate between modern echinoderms and other deuterostomes (Shu et al. 2004).

Representative Source Instances

• The Deluge Story in Stone
  Byron C. Nelson
  1931 · early-library-source · library-candidate · Library concept hit, page 102

  Early antievolution rhetoric treating evolutionary history as leaving unexplained gaps, although this hit is broader than the later transitional-fossil wording.

  Evidence excerpt: "—The Sunday School Times "If you are sometimes troubled with doubts because of the bold, so-called scientific claims of crass evolutionists, you will find your faith strengthened here again as the author demonstrates that all true known scientific facts fit...

  Source path: /mnt/CIFS/pengolodh/Docs/Library/science/biology/evolution/antievolution/1931-nelson-the-deluge-story-in-stone/1931-nelson-the-deluge-story-in-stone-002.pdf

• The Case for Creation
  Wayne Frair and Percival Davis
  1967 · early-library-source · library-candidate · Library concept hit, page 33

  An earlier direct source for the claim that major animal groups have real, seemingly unbridgeable gaps in their fossil histories.

  Evidence excerpt: Real and seemingly unbridgeable gaps have been found in the so-called "history" of almost all major groups of animals, vertebrates and invertebrates.

  Source path: /mnt/CIFS/pengolodh/Docs/Library/science/biology/evolution/antievolution/1967-frair-the-case-for-creation/1967-frair-the-case-for-creation-001.pdf

• The Great Evolution Mystery
  Gordon Rattray Taylor
  1983 · library-source · library-candidate · Library concept hit, page 83

  Uses Simpson to frame the alleged absence of transitional forms as a general problem.

  Evidence excerpt: Simpson is an ardent Darwinist, but he goes so far as to say: 'the absence of transitional forms is an almost universal phenomenon'.

  Source path: /mnt/CIFS/pengolodh/Docs/Library/science/biology/evolution/antievolution/1983-taylor-the-great-evolution-mystery/1983-taylor-the-great-evolution-mystery-001.pdf

• Evolution: A Theory in Crisis
  Michael Denton
  1985 · library-source · library-candidate · Library concept hit, page 75

  Accepts punctuated equilibrium as a possible explanation for species-level gaps, then argues that larger systematic gaps remain.

  Evidence excerpt: While Eldridge and Gould's model is a perfectly reasonable ex planation of the gaps between species (and, in my view, correct) it is doubtful if it can be extended to explain the larger systematic gaps.

  Source path: /mnt/CIFS/pengolodh/Docs/Library/science/biology/evolution/antievolution/1985-dento-evolution-a-theory-in-crisis/1985-dento-evolution-a-theory-in-crisis-002.pdf

• Evolution: A Theory in Crisis
  Michael Denton
  1985 · library-source · library-candidate · Library concept hit, page 107

  Frames 'bridging the gaps' as a problem for many special cases in plant and animal evolution.

  Evidence excerpt: It must not be inferred from these remarks that any of the grades of wing-structure here alluded to, which perhaps may all be the result of disuse, indicate the steps by which birds actually acquired their perfect power of flight; but they serve to show what...

  Source path: /mnt/CIFS/pengolodh/Docs/Library/science/biology/evolution/antievolution/1985-dento-evolution-a-theory-in-crisis/1985-dento-evolution-a-theory-in-crisis-002.pdf

• Scientific Creationism
  Henry M. Morris
  1985 · influential · needs-review · pp. 78-90

  Legacy Index source for the generic claim that the fossil record lacks the transitional forms expected by evolution.

• Life--How Did It Get Here?
  Watchtower Bible and Tract Society
  1985 · influential · needs-review · pp. 57-59

  Legacy Index source for a popular antievolution presentation of alleged gaps between fossil groups.

• Library and public-corpus search
  Unassigned
  review-needed · current-search-seed · search-needed · Search phrase: "no transitional fossils"

  Search seed for finding current or recent antievolution statements that restate the CC200 claim.

Claim Timeline

• Nelson gap rhetoric identified in Library search
  1931 · early-source-candidate

  The Library search found an early antievolution source using broad unexplained-gap language. This needs review because it is not yet the later precise no-transitional-fossils claim.

• The Case for Creation uses major-group gap language
  1967 · early-source-candidate

  Frair and Davis provide an earlier direct candidate source for alleged unbridgeable gaps in the histories of major animal groups.

• Creationist gap arguments appear before the current legacy examples
  1978-1983 · source-candidate

  Students for Origins Research and Taylor/Denton-era sources show that the claim family predates the two 1985 sources currently visible in the legacy Index entry.

• Legacy source examples published
  1985 · antievolution-source

  The current Index entry cites Morris's Scientific Creationism and Watchtower's Life--How Did It Get Here? as source examples for the claim.

• Transitional Vertebrate Fossils FAQ
  1994-1997 · response

  The Archive's fossil-transition FAQ collects major vertebrate examples and background.

• CC200 record date
  2001-04-29 · index-update

  One recorded legacy Index update date for the transitional fossils entry.

• CC200 record date
  2006-11-05 · index-update

  Second recorded legacy Index update date for the transitional fossils entry.

• Patterson and cladistics nuance
  review-needed · editorial-review

  Review whether discussion of Patterson's pattern/transformed cladistics helps explain why some arguments deny that particular fossils should count as transitional.

Known Responses

• TalkOrigins: Transitional Vertebrate Fossils FAQ
  TOA FAQ

  Primary Archive response page for fossil transitional sequences and common objections.

• Keith B. Miller: Taxonomy, transitional forms, and the fossil record
  external response

  Discusses taxonomy and the interpretation of transitional forms.

• Tim Thompson: On creation science and transitional fossils
  external response

  Addresses creationist use of transitional-fossil arguments.

• Patterson: Transitional fossil species and modes of speciation
  archived external response

  Candidate background response relevant to species concepts, transitional taxa, and how speciation mode affects fossil expectations.

Citation Candidates

First twelve candidates shown. CiteGeist-enriched candidates include source links, abstracts where available, and BibTeX. Full citation review data is in CC200-citations.json.

• Newell, N. D. 1959. Adequacy of the fossil record. Journal of Paleontology, v. 33, p. 488-499.
  citegeist-bibtex-only · legacy-response · CiteGeist / TalkOrigins bibliography export

  Bibliography source: /home/netuser/bin/CiteGeist/talkorigins-out/talkorigins_full.bib

  BibTeX

  @article{newell1959adequacy117,
      author = "Newell, N. D",
      year = "1959",
      title = "Adequacy of the fossil record",
      note = "talkorigins\_source = {true}; raw\_reference = {Newell, N. D., 1959, Adequacy of the fossil record: Journal of Paleontology, v. 33, p. 488-499.}",
      journal = "Journal of Paleontology, v. 33, p. 488-499"
  }

• Crusafont-Pairo, M. and Reguant, S. 1970. The nomenclature of intermediate forms. Systematic Zoology, v. 19, p. 254-257.
  citegeist-bibtex-only · legacy-response · CiteGeist / TalkOrigins bibliography export

  Bibliography source: /home/netuser/bin/CiteGeist/talkorigins-out/talkorigins_full.bib

  BibTeX

  @misc{crusafontpairo1970the2,
      author = "Crusafont-Pairo, M. and Reguant, S",
      year = "1970",
      title = "The nomenclature of intermediate forms",
      note = "talkorigins\_source = {true}; raw\_reference = {Crusafont-Pairo, M., and Reguant, S., 1970, The nomenclature of intermediate forms: Systematic Zoology, v. 19, p. 254-257.}",
      howpublished = "Systematic Zoology, v. 19, p. 254-257"
  }

• Cuffey, R. J. 1971. Evidence for evolution from the fossil record. Journal of American Scientific Affiliations, v. 23, p. 158-159.
  citegeist-bibtex-only · legacy-response · CiteGeist / TalkOrigins bibliography export

  Bibliography source: /home/netuser/dev/scibot-toa-batch/data/bibtex/fossil-record.bib

  BibTeX

  @article{cuffey1971evidence15,
      author = "Cuffey, R. J",
      title = "Evidence for evolution from the fossil record",
      year = "1971",
      journal = "Journal of American Scientific Affiliations, v. 23, p. 158-159",
      note = "talkorigins\_source = {true}; raw\_reference = {Cuffey, R. J., 1971, Evidence for evolution from the fossil record: Journal of American Scientific Affiliations, v. 23, p. 158-159.}"
  }

• Cuffey, R. J. 1971. Transitional fossils well known. Journal of American Scientific Affiliations, v. 23, p. 38.
  citegeist-bibtex-only · legacy-response · CiteGeist / TalkOrigins bibliography export

  Bibliography source: /home/netuser/bin/CiteGeist/talkorigins-out/talkorigins_full.bib

  BibTeX

  @article{cuffey1971transitional41,
      author = "Cuffey, R. J",
      year = "1971",
      title = "Transitional fossils well known",
      note = "talkorigins\_source = {true}; raw\_reference = {Cuffey, R. J., 1971, Transitional fossils well known: Journal of American Scientific Affiliations, v. 23, p. 38.}",
      journal = "Journal of American Scientific Affiliations, v. 23, p. 38"
  }

• Eldredge, N. 1981. Do Gaps in the Fossil Record Disprove Descent with Modification?. Creation/Evolution, v. 4, p. 17-19.
  citegeist-bibtex-only · legacy-response · CiteGeist / TalkOrigins bibliography export

  Bibliography source: /home/netuser/bin/CiteGeist/talkorigins-out/talkorigins_full.bib

  BibTeX

  @misc{eldredge1981do60,
      author = "Eldredge, N",
      year = "1981",
      title = "Do Gaps in the Fossil Record Disprove Descent with Modification?",
      note = "talkorigins\_source = {true}; raw\_reference = {Eldredge, N., 1981, Do Gaps in the Fossil Record Disprove Descent with Modification?: Creation/Evolution, v. 4, p. 17-19.}",
      howpublished = "Creation/Evolution, v. 4, p. 17-19"
  }

• Lewin, R. 1981. No gap here in the fossil record. Science, v. 214, p. 645-646.
  citegeist-bibtex-only · legacy-response · CiteGeist / TalkOrigins bibliography export

  Bibliography source: /home/netuser/dev/scibot-toa-batch/data/bibtex/fossil-record.bib

  BibTeX

  @misc{lewin1981no37,
      author = "Lewin, R",
      title = "No gap here in the fossil record",
      year = "1981",
      howpublished = "Science, v. 214, p. 645-646",
      note = "talkorigins\_source = {true}; raw\_reference = {Lewin, R., 1981, No gap here in the fossil record: Science, v. 214, p. 645-646.}"
  }

• Godfrey, L. R. 1983. Creationism and Gaps in the Fossil Record, in Godfrey, L. R., ed., Scientists Confront Creationism. New York, W.W. Norton, p. 193- 218.
  citegeist-bibtex-only · legacy-response · CiteGeist / TalkOrigins bibliography export

  Bibliography source: /home/netuser/dev/scibot-toa-batch/data/bibtex/fossil-record.bib

  BibTeX

  @misc{godfrey1983creationism28,
      author = "Godfrey, L. R",
      title = "Creationism and Gaps in the Fossil Record, in Godfrey, L. R., ed., Scientists Confront Creationism",
      year = "1983",
      howpublished = "New York, W.W. Norton, p. 193- 218",
      note = "talkorigins\_source = {true}; raw\_reference = {Godfrey, L. R., 1983, Creationism and Gaps in the Fossil Record, in Godfrey, L. R., ed., Scientists Confront Creationism: New York, W.W. Norton, p. 193- 218.}"
  }

• Foote, Mike and Raup, David M. 1996. Fossil preservation and the stratigraphic ranges of taxa. Paleobiology.
  citegeist-enriched · legacy-response · CiteGeist / TalkOrigins bibliography export

  Source link

  Abstract: The incompleteness of the fossil record hinders the inference of evolutionary rates and patterns. Here, we derive relationships among true taxonomic durations, preservation probability, and observed taxonomic ranges. We use these relationships to estimate original distributions of taxonomic durations, preservation probability, and completeness (proportion of taxa preserved), given only the observed ranges. No data on occurrences within the ranges of taxa are required. When preservation is random and the original distribution of durations is exponential, the inference of durations, preservability, and completeness is exact. However, reasonable approximations are possible given non-exponential duration distributions and temporal and taxonomic...

  Bibliography source: /home/netuser/dev/scibot-toa-batch/data/bibtex/fossil-record.bib

  BibTeX

  @article{doi101017s0094837300016134,
      author = "Foote, Mike and Raup, David M.",
      title = "Fossil preservation and the stratigraphic ranges of taxa",
      year = "1996",
      journal = "Paleobiology",
      abstract = "The incompleteness of the fossil record hinders the inference of evolutionary rates and patterns. Here, we derive relationships among true taxonomic durations, preservation probability, and observed taxonomic ranges. We use these relationships to estimate original distributions of taxonomic durations, preservation probability, and completeness (proportion of taxa preserved), given only the observed ranges. No data on occurrences within the ranges of taxa are required. When preservation is random and the original distribution of durations is exponential, the inference of durations, preservability, and completeness is exact. However, reasonable approximations are possible given non-exponential duration distributions and temporal and taxonomic variation in preservability. Thus, the approaches we describe have great potential in studies of taphonomy, evolutionary rates and patterns, and genealogy. Analyses of Upper Cambrian-Lower Ordovician trilobite species, Paleozoic crinoid genera, Jurassic bivalve species, and Cenozoic mammal species yield the following results: (1) The preservation probability inferred from stratigraphic ranges alone agrees with that inferred from the analysis of stratigraphic gaps when data on the latter are available. (2) Whereas median durations based on simple tabulations of observed ranges are biased by stratigraphic resolution, our estimates of median duration, extinction rate, and completeness are not biased.(3) The shorter geologic ranges of mammalian species relative to those of bivalves cannot be attributed to a difference in preservation potential. However, we cannot rule out the contribution of taxonomic practice to this difference. (4) In the groups studied, completeness (proportion of species [trilobites, bivalves, mammals] or genera [crinoids] preserved) ranges from 60\% to 90\%. The higher estimates of completeness at smaller geographic scales support previous suggestions that the incompleteness of the fossil record reflects loss of fossiliferous rock more than failure of species to enter the fossil record in the first place.",
      url = "https://doi.org/10.1017/s0094837300016134",
      doi = "10.1017/s0094837300016134",
      openalex = "W1936619567",
      references = "doi1010029781444313918, doi101007bf00897326, doi101017s0094837300004929, doi101017s0094837300005996, doi101017s009483730001263x, doi10106314822961, doi101126science11539488, doi1023072405671, doi107312simp93764, openalexw1522518756, openalexw2145250129, openalexw3135630760, schopf1978fossilization"
  }

• 1996. New approaches to speciation in the fossil record. Choice Reviews Online.
  citegeist-enriched · legacy-response · CiteGeist / TalkOrigins bibliography export

  Source link

  Abstract: This collection of case studies seeks to re-examine the understanding of the speciation patterns that appear in the fossil record through analysis of the patterns and their presumed processes. The contributions address the questions surrounding speciation in the fossil record by conducting very specific studies of particular lineages. In each case, the rigorous techniques of morphological analysis, quantitative genetic analysis, phylogenetic analysis, and sedimentary completeness have been employed. The new perspectives revealed in this volume should make it a useful resource for students, teachers, and professionals in the fields of paleontology and evolutionary biology. Rich with data and cogent examples of the speciation processes, this book...

  Bibliography source: /home/netuser/dev/scibot-toa-batch/data/bibtex/fossil-record.bib

  BibTeX

  @article{doi105860choice333929,
      title = "New approaches to speciation in the fossil record",
      year = "1996",
      journal = "Choice Reviews Online",
      abstract = "This collection of case studies seeks to re-examine the understanding of the speciation patterns that appear in the fossil record through analysis of the patterns and their presumed processes. The contributions address the questions surrounding speciation in the fossil record by conducting very specific studies of particular lineages. In each case, the rigorous techniques of morphological analysis, quantitative genetic analysis, phylogenetic analysis, and sedimentary completeness have been employed. The new perspectives revealed in this volume should make it a useful resource for students, teachers, and professionals in the fields of paleontology and evolutionary biology. Rich with data and cogent examples of the speciation processes, this book should stand as a guide to greater understanding of the issues surrounding these processes.",
      url = "https://doi.org/10.5860/choice.33-3929",
      doi = "10.5860/choice.33-3929",
      openalex = "W585029652"
  }

• Caldwell, M. W. and M. S. Y. Lee, 1997. A snake with legs from the marine Cretaceous of the Middle East. Nature 386: 705-709.
  legacy-candidate · legacy-response
• Conway Morris, Simon, 1998. The Crucible of Creation, Oxford University Press.
  legacy-candidate · legacy-response
• Cronin, T. M., 1985. Speciation and stasis in marine ostracoda: climatic modulation of evolution. Science 227: 60-63.
  legacy-candidate · legacy-response

Related Claims

• CC050
  linked-from-response

  CC050: All hominid fossils are fully human or fully ape.

• CC212
  linked-from-response

  CC212: There are gaps between fish and amphibians.

• CC214
  linked-from-response

  CC214: There are gaps between reptiles and birds.

• CC216.1
  linked-from-response

  CC216.1: There are gaps between land mammals and whales.

• CC220
  linked-from-response

  CC220: Arthropods arose suddenly.

• CC200.1
  subclaim

  Expectation that the fossil record should contain billions of transitional fossils.

• CC201
  adjacent-claim

  Punctuated equilibrium, stasis, and alleged gaps between fossil changes.

• CC202
  adjacent-claim

  Whether fossil order supports evolutionary history.

Legacy Sections