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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Untangling “Professor Dave’s” Confusion about the Cambrian Explosion

animals, birds, body plan, Cambrian Explosion, Cambrian News, Casey Luskin, cladists, Darwin's Doubt, Dave Farina, Douglas Erwin, Ediacaran fauna, Ediacaran Period, Evolution, Fortunian, fossil record, great Ordovician biodiversification event, homology, insects, Nick Matzke, paleontology, phylum, plesiomorphic, Professor Dave, Richard Dawkins, Stephen Meyer, symplesiomorphy, synapomorphy, The Blind Watchmaker, wings, YouTubers
We have seen the absurdly low quality of this individual’s video. But there is much more. I have added timecodes in square brackets for easier reference. Source
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Debunking “Professor Dave’s” Hit Piece Against Stephen Meyer

Australopithecines, Basilosauridae, birds, Cambrian Explosion, Casey Luskin, Charles Marshall, common descent, cynodonts, Darwin's Doubt, dinosaurs, Discovery Institute, Donald Prothero, Evolution, fossil record, hominids, hominins, humans, Intelligent Design, John Hawks, Jurassic Big Bang, Kazanian revolution, land mammals, mammaliaforms, Michael Behe, Michael Denton, New York Times, Nick Matzke, Pakicetidae, pelycosaurs, Raoellidae, Richard Sternberg, Romer’s Gap, science denial, science teachers, sea mammals, Stephen Meyer, therapsid event, Therapsids, transitional fossils, walking whales, YouTubers
This YouTube video runs to about an hour and a quarter, so I will be answering him once again in a series, minute by minute. Source
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Human Origins: All in the Family

art, Australopithecines, burial, chain mail, Creativity, Culture, Donald Johanson, Erik Trinkaus, footprints, fossil record, Fossils and Human Evolution (series), Francesco d’Errico, habilines, Homo erectus, Homo neanderthalensis, Homo sapiens, Human Origins, Nature (journal), Neanderthals, Oxford University Press, paintings, paleoanthropologists, paleontology, Siegrid Hartwig-Scherer, Stephen Molnar, symbolic thought, Technology, total energy expenditure, University of Bordeaux, Washington University
If a Neanderthal walked down the street, appropriately dressed, you probably wouldn’t notice. Source
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The Big Bang Origin of Homo

Allen Institute for Brain Science, Australopithecines, Australopithecus, biology, brain size, Christof Koch, cranial buttressing, dental function, Ernst Mayr, Eurasia, Evolution, fossil record, Fossils and Human Evolution (series), hominins, Homo erectus, Homo habilis, Homo sapiens, Human Origins, humans, Journal of Molecular Biology and Evolution, paleoanthropologists, Pleistocene, skulls, Southeast Asia
This unbridged gap between the ape-like australopithecines and the abruptly appearing human-like members of our genus challenges evolutionary accounts. Source
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