[Titus Quinctius Cincinnatus]

So you want us to talk about fossil plants, well....hey everyone, look over there! A pink flying unicorn!!!11!eleventy!!

/typical evo

[GodGunsGuts]

Ping!

[stormer]

Sitting on my desk as I type are several 50 million year old plant fossils I found near my cabin. Each and every one is identifiable on at least a family level. This is not unusual, so why the breathless post?

[IDRATHERNOT]

Nice article...that uses sound reasoning to basically destroy their “theories” and “settled science”.

[GingisK]

...Evidence indicates that it was warmer and wetter...

This is what little old me has been saying all along! If the atmosphere is warmer there will be more water content in it. That will probably bring rain to the arid places.

[Wacka]

BT BS* forgot to mention these paragraphs from the original press release (at least he linked to it):

“Megafossils found at the Cerrejón site made it possible to use leaf structure to identify specimens down to the genus level. This resolution allowed the identification of plant genera that still exist in Neotropical rainforests. With pollen fossils, specimens can be categorized only to the family level.

Researchers were surprised by the relative lack of diversity found in the Paleocene rainforest, Herrera said. Statistical analyses showed that the plant communities found in the Cerrejón Formation were 60 percent to 80 percent less diverse than those of modern Neotropical rainforests. Evidence of herbivory also showed a low diversity level among insects.

The study’s authors say the relative lack of diversity indicates either the beginning of rainforest species diversification or the recovery of existing species from the Cretaceous extinction event.”

[Tolsti2]

If these plants were turned into coal within the last 6000 years, you’d think we’d have mountains of the stuff forming all over very quickly to this day.

[<1/1,000,000th%]

Statistical analyses showed that the plant communities found in the Cerrejón Formation were 60 percent to 80 percent less diverse than those of modern Neotropical rainforests. Evidence of herbivory also showed a low diversity level among insects.

Good thing Mr. Thomas didn't read the whole press release.

I'll bet he really loves crocodilians and sharks.

[Ha Ha Thats Very Logical]

This is why your claim that BT MS* is one of the best science writers around is so ludicrous. His headline, "New Fossil Cache Shows Plants Haven't Changed," is a lie--the fossils show no such thing. The kicker in his opening paragraph, "the fossilized tropical plants were the same as today’s," is also a lie--the original article doesn't say they're "the same." It says "the Cerrejón rainforest shows many of the characteristics of modern equivalents" and that "the forest...was similar in many ways to that of today." (Emphasis mine.) "Was similar in many ways" /= "were the same."

The original article also says, "Megafossils found at the Cerrejón site made it possible to use leaf structure to identify specimens down to the genus level." In other words, they haven't been able to use the fossils to identify species. If they haven't identified the species, how could they say the plants were "the same"? (Hint: they couldn't, which is why they didn't.)

Real science writers are careful about the accuracy of what they write. Brian isn't, because he has an agenda. That's why Brian is a lousy science writer, though he's an excellent propagandist.

[rae4palin]

I love this stuff. Keep ‘em coming, GGG. thx

[Ira_Louvin]

Pseudoscientists often reveal themselves by their handling of the scientific literature. Their idea of doing scientific research is simply to read scientific periodicals and monographs. They focus on words, not on the underlying facts and reasoning. They take science to be all statements by scientists. Science degenerates into a secular substitute for sacred literature. Any statement by any scientist can be cited against any other statement. Every statement counts and every statement is open to interpretation. - Science and Unreason, Radner and Radner

[count-your-change]

To cut to the heart of the matter, this is the important question:

“Given all that time, why has no evolutionary change occurred in the plants or animals described?”,

[ElectricStrawberry]

BWAAAAAhahahahaha....lyin' Brian Thomas MS* is a hoot.

“were composed of the same plant families that now thrive in rainforests.” Even more remarkable, supposedly ancient fossil leaves—some of them very well preserved—were identifiable “down to the genus level.”

WOW....right down to the "genus level"...and that means something to an uneducated fool like you, Brian? Somehow, in your world, it is surprising that 58 million years ago there were plants in the same genera as today? OMG BIG SHOCKER!!

In addition to the plants, the fossilized animals seemed quite similar to their modern counterparts.

Wow..."quite similar" and "clearly related"....OMG, there was something that was LIKE snakes of today.

However, the claim that these fossils are 58 million years old may be difficult to support.

Actually, I bet they have a great SCIENTIFIC reason to ascribe that age.....with support too.

Given all that time, why has no evolutionary change occurred in the plants or animals described

There HAS been. Denying it is soooo typical of you lyin' Brian Thomas MS.*

But the existence of the same flora and fauna then as today shows that evolution did not occur at all.

That is a lie, Brian....OK, maybe you don't know it's untrue and still say it. This is an untruth, Brian.

The remarkable similarities are also consistent with a much younger date for the fossils.

False statement, Brian.

Rather than an inexplicable example of creatures that remained evolutionarily dormant for “millions of years,” the best fit for the evidence is their recent creation as distinct plant and animal kinds.

False conclusion, Brian Thomas MS*

Some interesting stuff in the primary source, though.

The fossils are from the Paleocene epoch, which occurred in the 5- to 7-million-year period following the massive extinction event responsible for the demise of the dinosaurs.