This editorial was featured at the top of the Readers' Page of the Syracuse Post-Standard newspaper, May 8, 2003 edition.
Peter Irvine (letter, April 24) characterizes evolutionists as narrow
and exclusive in [their] presuppositions regarding science." He further
declares that "scientific evidence gained from archeology, information
science, biology, anatomy, physics, geology, logic, cosmology, etc., clearly
shows evolution to be a flawed theory." Sadly, nearly half of American
adults share these misconceptions.
The fact is that the fossil record, which shows how organisms have
changed through time, overwhelmingly supports evolution. For group after
group (horses, elephants, whales, clams), we have superb sequences of fossil
forms documenting the transformation of distant ancestors into their more
modern descendents. And the intermediate (linking) species in these
lineages are not just haphazardly strewn around, challenging us to contrive
a pleasing progression. No, the correct order is known from the ages of
sedimentary rocks that contain them, and these ages can be determined
independently using methods that have nothing to do with fossils.
The gradational transitions we see within narrowly defined groups (such
as horses), extend also to more major groups of organisms (Orders, Classes).
The earliest amphibians strongly resembled the fish that gave rise to them;
the first reptiles were virtually indistinguishable from their amphibian
ancestors; the mammal-like reptiles were such perfect transitional forms
that drawing a line between reptiles and mammals becomes arbitrary.
What’s more, ancestral and descendent species invariably overlap in
their characteristics, so that transitions are more like splices than butt
joints. For example, the Devonian fish that gave rise to amphibians already
had lungs, as well as the particular bones (humerus, radius, ulna; femur,
tibia, fibula) that would allow their fins to become walking legs.
Likewise, the earliest amphibians retained many features of their fish
ancestors: similar overall body form; similar skeletons; fish-like scales;
a tail fin; similar sense organs; teeth unlike those in any other organisms
before or since; and a most distinctive pattern of tooth arrangement
entailing a double row around the margin of the jaw and isolated tusks on
the roof of the mouth. One could hardly contrive a smoother transition!
The evolutionary message of fossils is confirmed by many additional
kinds of evidence from the field of biology (the study of modern organisms).
Most significantly, patterns of relatedness based on powerful new molecular
techniques (immunological distance, DNA comparison) yield “family trees”
that are virtually identical to those deduced from the fossil record. The
other sciences – physics, chemistry, cosmology, etc. – bear less directly on
evolution, but provide absolutely no evidence against it.
For scientists, the question of organic evolution was settled in the
affirmative ages ago, and as new data rapidly accumulate on all fronts, they
only confirm and sharpen our understanding.
Bryce M. Hand
Emeritus Professor of Geology
Syracuse University
