FAQ: The Cambrian Explosion Is Real, and It Is a Problem for Evolution

biology, Cambrian Explosion, Cambrian News, Critical Transitions in Nature and Society, Darwin's Doubt, Ediacaran fauna, Evolution, Evolution News, FAQ, fossil record, genetic information, Graham Budd, Intelligent Design, Jerry Coyne, Martin Scheffer, Nick Matzke, oxygen, paleobiology, paleontology, Precambrian, Professor Dave, scientific literature, Sören Jensen, Stephen Meyer
An email correspondent who is friendly to intelligent design (ID) recently wrote us asking how to respond to common objections to ID arguments about the Cambrian explosion. Source
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Fossil Friday: The Explosive Origin of Mosasaurs in the Cretaceous

Darwinism, ecological niches, Evolution, flukes, Fossil Friday, fossil record, genes, genetic changes, genetic coding, just-so stories, Late Cretaceous, legends, marine reptiles, mathematics, mosasaurs, mutations, North America, paleontology, Plesioplatecarpus planifroms, population genetics, sea serpents, sharks, waiting-time problem
The math of population genetics precludes a Darwinian origin of these new genes in such a short time. Source
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Fossil Friday: The Explosive Origin of Complex Eyes in Trilobites

arthropods, begging the question, Cambrian Explosion, common ancestry, Darwinists, Evolution, evolutionary biology, falsification, Fossil Friday, fossil record, holochroal eyes, immunization, just-so stories, materialists, Molière, opium, paleontology, phylogeny, pseudoscience, schizochroal eyes, Stephen Meyer, trilobites
The theory has been made immune to empirical falsification because it is simply assumed to be true by default as the only viable option for materialists. Source
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Fossil Friday: The Abrupt Origin of Butterflies

abrupt appearance, animal phyla, butterflies, caddisfly, Cambrian Explosion, Darwinian theory, Early Cretaceous, Eocene, Evolution, Florissant, Fossil Friday, fossil record, Hesperiidae, Intelligent Design, Lepidoptera, macrolepidopterans, Mesozoic, moth, Nymphalidae, paleontology, Papillionidae, Pieridae, Prodryas persephone, Tertiary Butterfly Explosion
This phenomenon could rightfully be called a Tertiary Butterfly Explosion analogous to the Cambrian Explosion of animal phyla. Source
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New Scientist: Ichthyosaurs Evolved “Astonishingly Rapidly”

Cartorhynchus, cetaceans, Current Biology, Cymbospondylus youngorum, Darwinian gradualism, dolphins, Early Eocene, Evolution, Fossil Hill, fossil record, Frontiers in Earth Science, Günter Bechly, ichthyosaur, land mammals, Mesozoic, Neo-Darwinism, Nevada, New Scientist, Pakicetus, paleontology, Permian-Triassic extinction, porpoises, Science (journal), Sclerocormus, Tethys Sea, whales
This is a case of evolutionary biology trying to explain away the data that otherwise was not directly expected under their model. Source
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Fossil Friday: The Abrupt Origins of Lagomorphs and Rodents

beavers, Carl von Linné, China, comparative morphology, Cretaceous, Dan Graur, Darwinism, Early Paleocene, East Asia, Euarchontoglires, Evolution, Fossil Friday, fossil record, Glires, guinea pigs, gundis, hamsters, hares, incongruence, Lagomorpha, Lagomorphs, mammals, mice, molecular clock studies, Mongolia, Nebraska, Oligocene, Palaeolagus haydeni, Paleocene, PaleoDB, paleontology, pikas, placental mammals, porcupines, rabbits, rats, Rodentia, rodents, squirrels, Systema Naturae, Tübingen
Molecular biologist Dan Graur mentioned his weird idea that guinea pigs are not rodents at a lecture at my university in Tübingen when I was still a student. Source
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Fossil Friday: The Abrupt Origins of Treeshrews (Scandentia) and Colugos (Dermoptera)

Alfred Brehm, arboreal animals, bats, chimeras, colugos, Cretaceous Period, Cynocephalidae, Darwinian predictions, Darwinian theory, Early Eocene, Euarchotoglires, Eudaemonema webbi, Evolution, flying lemurs, Fossil Friday, fossil record, Galeopithecidae, Late Paleocene, Micromomyidae, Microsyopidae, Mixodectidae, Myanmar, North America, Pakistan, Paleocene, Paleogene, paleontology, phylogenetics, Plagiomenidae, plagiomenids, Plesiadapiformes, primates, Ptilocercidae, Thailand, treeshrews, Volitantia, Western Canada
Even as a paleontologist I admit that calling this a real scientific discipline seems like an insult to sciences like physics or chemistry or molecular biology. Source
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Fossil Friday: Fossil Sea Cows and the Abrupt Origin of Sirenia and Desmostylia

Afrotheria, Calvert Marine Museum, common descent, Darwinism, Desmostylia, dugongids, dugongs, elephants, Embrithopoda, Eocene, Evolution, Fossil Friday, fossil record, Ishatherium subathuensis, Jamaica, Lincoln Creek Formation, mammals, manatees, Paleocene, PaleoDB, paleontology, Pezosiren, Proboscidea, protosirenids, science, sea cows, Sirenia, sirenians, Steller’s sea cow, synapomorphies, Tethytheria, Washington State, whales
So, is every thing OK with Darwinism after all? No so fast. Actually, there are some problems that do not square well with a Darwinian scenario. Source
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Fossil Friday: Fossil Hyraxes and the Abrupt Origin of Hyracoidea

Afrotheria, Archaeohyracidae, Early Oligocene, East Africa, Egypt, elephant shrew, Fayum, Fossil Friday, fossil record, Geniohyiidae, George Cuvier, George Gaylord Simpson, Hippomorpha, Hyracoidea, hyraxes, Late Oligocene, Megalohyrax gevini, Microhyrax lavocati, Miohyracidae, Namahyracidae, Paenungulata, Paleogene, paleontology, phylogenetics, Pliohyracidae, Rukwalorax, Sagatheriidae, science, scrotum, Tanzania, Titanohyracidae, Titanohyrax andrewsi, Titanohyrax mongereaui, Titanohyrax tantulus
Of course, it is only we “nitpicking” intelligent design proponents who point out such incongruences. Source
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