Claim CC301:
In the Cambrian explosion, all major animal groups appear together in
the fossil record fully formed instead of branching from a common
ancestor, thus contradicting the evolutionary tree of life.
Source:
Wells, Jonathan, 2000. Icons of Evolution, Washington DC: Regnery,
pp. 40-45
Response:
- The Cambrian explosion does not show all groups appearing together
fully formed. some animal groups (and no plant,
fungus, or microbe groups) appearing over many millions of years in
forms very different, for the most part, from the forms that are seen
today.
- During the Cambrian, there was the first appearance of hard parts, such
as shells and teeth, in animals. The lack of readily fossilizable
parts before then ensures that the fossil record would be very
incomplete in the Precambrian. The old age of the Precambrian era
contributes to a scarcity of fossils.
- The Precambrian fossils that have been found are consistent with a
branching pattern and inconsistent with a sudden Cambrian origin. For
example, bacteria appear well before multicellular organisms, and there
are fossils giving evidence of transitionals leading to
halkierids and arthropods.
- Genetic evidence also shows a branching pattern in the Precambrian,
indicating, for example, that plants diverged from a common ancestor
before fungi diverged from animals.
created 2001-1-27
