Some creationists (those that seek to discredit Darwinian evolution), engage in what the other side disdainfully calls the “god of the gaps”.
No matter how many gaps in the evolutionary record are filled, for every gap that is filled, two gaps are created. It is the nature of the fossil record.
Find a fossil that has feathers and reptilian features? Now there are gaps on both sides of that fossil! Two more “gaps” for every “gap” filled!
It is a stupid and foolish argument.
The filled gaps are some of the strongest evidence for Darwinian evolution. Darwinian evolution predicted that fossils would be found for intermediary forms.
Numerous intermediary forms have been found.
That is how evidence for scientific theory builds up.
bump
marktwain: ** “ Find a fossil that has feathers and reptilian features?
Now there are gaps on both sides of that fossil!
Two more “gaps” for every “gap” filled!
It is a stupid and foolish argument. “ **
I’ve seen that argument made on Free Republic, but not recently, some years ago I’d say.
Reminds me of the ancient Greek paradox wherein Achilles can never catch the rabbit even though his speed reduces the distance by half every minute.
Mathematically yes, but practically something else.
It is a fallacy to claim fossils as evidence for evolution, for the simple reason that no genetic information can be obtained from fossils. Ultimately, fossils are merely petrified skeletons, and some of them (like Lucy) aren’t even complete. Everything we think we know about fossilized animals comes from the imaginations of paleontologists.