[My2Cents]

Have you made the mistake of reading creationist claims that there are "no" transitional fossils -- and believing them?

(Here's a claim of the lack of transitional forms in the fossil record from that leading "creationist," Stephen Jay Gould.)

The extreme rarity of transitional forms in the fossil record persists as the trade secret of paleontology. The evolutionary trees that adorn our textbooks have data only at the tips and nods of their branches; the rest is inference, however reasonable, not the evidence of fossils." (Gould, Stephen J. The Pandas Thumb, 1980, p. 181.)

"At the higher level of evolutionary transition between basic morphological designs, gradualism has always been in trouble, though it remains the ‘official’ position of most Western evolutionists. Smooth intermediates between Bauplane [body plans] are almost impossible to construct, even in thought experiments; there is certainly no evidence for them in the fossil record (curious mosaics like Archaeopteryx do not count)." (Gould & Eldredge, "Punctuated Equilibria: the Tempo and Mode of Evolution Reconsidered," Paleobiology, 3:147, 1977, p.147).

Under a commonplace evolutionary misuse of terms, a "convergent form," like a "transitional form," contains character traits from two separate groups. The only difference is in how the Darwinists explain them. Archaeopteryx, having teeth and a tail, is said to be a transitional form because it fits the common descent story of birds evolving from reptiles. On the other hand, bats, having wings and utilizing echolocation to navigate, just like multiple species of birds, is said to be convergent. One must not say that bats are transitional between birds and mammals because it does not fit the accepted common descent story. Thus, Dawkins asserts, "It follows that the echolocation technology has been independently developed in bats and birds, just as it was independently developed by British, American, and German scientists." (Dawkins, Richard, The Blind Watchmaker, 1996, p. 96.) Unfortunately for evolutionary theory, convergent forms are abundant, while transitional candidates are rare.

Evolutionists create the illusion of ancestry by merging together, in rapid fire, these various techniques. (See, for example Cuffey, Roger J., "Paleontologic Evidence and Organic Evolution," p. 255-281 in Montagu, Ashley, ed., Science and Creationism, Oxford University Press, Oxford, 1984.) The point is that any collection of objects can arbitrarily be placed into a continuum, with some identified as transitional. This, however, is not sufficient to establish actual evidence for common descent. There must, instead, be a discernable pattern of lineages giving the supposed transitionals credibility. The data must occur along a long, narrow trail. The size of the gaps is not as important as the pattern. Once a lineage is determined, the transitional forms are self-evident.

While both creationists and evolutionists agree that there is a general pattern of nested hierarchy (which was recognized by Linnaeus long before Darwin’s work), the question for evolutionists remains one of lineage and ancestors. As more fossils have been found, the gaps and the lack of identifiable phylogeny have become more distinct. New discoveries have tended to obscure lineages previously believed by evolutionists to be reliable.

That is the whole point of punctuated equilibrium. Leading evolutionists do not claim that the fossils demonstrate phylogeny or gradual intergradations sufficient to prove large-scale evolution. To the contrary, they admit to the abundance of systematic, large gaps between major groups in the fossil record. Walter ReMine notes, "These absences are huge as measured by the only scientific measuring stick we have - experimental demonstrations. The gaps are so huge they have not remotely been bridged by experimental demonstrations in labs or in the field." (ReMine, Walter, Private correspondence, 1999.) This point should not be debatable since there are plentiful statements from punctuationists admitting to the lack of clear ancestors and lineages in the fossil record.

[Junior]

Ah, the dishonest creationist quote salad.

Your quote:

The extreme rarity of transitional forms in the fossil record persists as the trade secret of paleontology. The evolutionary trees that adorn our textbooks have data only at the tips and nods of their branches; the rest is inference, however reasonable, not the evidence of fossils." (Gould, Stephen J. The Pandas Thumb, 1980, p. 181.)

The real quote:

The extreme rarity of transitional forms in the fossil record persists as the trade secret of paleontology. The evolutionary trees that adorn our textbooks have data only at the tips and nodes of their branches; the rest is inference, however reasonable, not the evidence of fossils. Yet Darwin was so wedded to gradualism that he wagered his entire theory on a denial of this literal record:

The geological record is extremely imperfect and this fact will to a large extent explain why we do not find interminable varieties, connecting together all the extinct and existing forms of life by the finest graduated steps. He who rejects these views on the nature of the geological record, will rightly reject my whole theory.

Darwin's argument still persists as the favored escape of most paleontologists from the embarrassment of a record that seems to show so little of evolution [directly]. In exposing its cultural and methodological roots, I wish in no way to impugn the potential validity of gradualism (for all general views have similar roots). I only wish to point out that it is never "seen" in the rocks.

Paleontologists have paid an exorbitant price for Darwin's argument. We fancy ourselves as the only true students of life's history, yet to preserve our favored account of evolution by natural selection we view our data as so bad that we never see the very process we profess to study.

For several years, Niles Eldredge of the American Museum of Natural History and I have been advocating a resolution to this uncomfortable paradox. We believe that Huxley was right in his warning [1]. The modern theory of evolution does not require gradual change. In fact, the operation of Darwinian processes should yield exactly what we see in the fossil record. [It is gradualism we should reject, not Darwinism.]

[1] Referring to Huxley's warning to Darwin, literally on the eve of the publication of Origin of Species, that "[y]ou have loaded yourself with an unnecessary difficulty in adopting Natura non facit saltum [nature does not make leaps] so unreservedly." - Ed.

 

Note, the underlined portion, above, completely obviates the tiny little snippet you snagged.

You actually got the next quote correct, but you missed the context:

"At the higher level of evolutionary transition between basic morphological designs, gradualism has always been in trouble, though it remains the ‘official’ position of most Western evolutionists. Smooth intermediates between Bauplane [body plans] are almost impossible to construct, even in thought experiments; there is certainly no evidence for them in the fossil record (curious mosaics like Archaeopteryx do not count)." (Gould & Eldredge, "Punctuated Equilibria: the Tempo and Mode of Evolution Reconsidered," Paleobiology, 3:147, 1977, p.147).

As the Quote Mine Project points out:

It's now obvious that Gould and Eldredge weren't arguing against Archaeopteryx being a transitional form, but arguing that it wasn't an example of a perfectly smooth change between body plans (or "Baupläne"). For instance, the wing of Archaeopteryx was in essence the forelimb of a dinosaur covered with feathers. This is what Gould and Eldredge meant by the term "mosaic": a creature that is a mixture of both primitive and advanced features. But mosaic forms are exactly what we should expect from evolutionary transitions, since there's no reason to expect every part of the body to evolve at the same rate or at the same time. Evolution has no destination in mind, just as the Wright Brothers didn't envision modern jet fighters when they flew at Kitty Hawk.

But did Gould believe that Archaeopteryx was a transitional form? He did indeed, as can be seen in his article "The Tell-tale Wishbone" (Gould 1980). Any claim to the contrary would be a misrepresentation.

The next four paragraphs are lifted, verbatim, from a creationist website (Genesis Park):

Under a commonplace evolutionary misuse of terms, a "convergent form," like a "transitional form," contains character traits from two separate groups. The only difference is in how the Darwinists explain them. Archaeopteryx, having teeth and a tail, is said to be a transitional form because it fits the common descent story of birds evolving from reptiles. On the other hand, bats, having wings and utilizing echolocation to navigate, just like multiple species of birds, is said to be convergent. One must not say that bats are transitional between birds and mammals because it does not fit the accepted common descent story. Thus, Dawkins asserts, "It follows that the echolocation technology has been independently developed in bats and birds, just as it was independently developed by British, American, and German scientists." (Dawkins, Richard, The Blind Watchmaker, 1996, p. 96.) Unfortunately for evolutionary theory, convergent forms are abundant, while transitional candidates are rare.

Evolutionists create the illusion of ancestry by merging together, in rapid fire, these various techniques. (See, for example Cuffey, Roger J., "Paleontologic Evidence and Organic Evolution," p. 255-281 in Montagu, Ashley, ed., Science and Creationism, Oxford University Press, Oxford, 1984.) The point is that any collection of objects can arbitrarily be placed into a continuum, with some identified as transitional. This, however, is not sufficient to establish actual evidence for common descent. There must, instead, be a discernable pattern of lineages giving the supposed transitionals credibility. The data must occur along a long, narrow trail. The size of the gaps is not as important as the pattern. Once a lineage is determined, the transitional forms are self-evident.

While both creationists and evolutionists agree that there is a general pattern of nested hierarchy (which was recognized by Linnaeus long before Darwin’s work), the question for evolutionists remains one of lineage and ancestors. As more fossils have been found, the gaps and the lack of identifiable phylogeny have become more distinct. New discoveries have tended to obscure lineages previously believed by evolutionists to be reliable.

That is the whole point of punctuated equilibrium. Leading evolutionists do not claim that the fossils demonstrate phylogeny or gradual intergradations sufficient to prove large-scale evolution. To the contrary, they admit to the abundance of systematic, large gaps between major groups in the fossil record. Walter ReMine notes, "These absences are huge as measured by the only scientific measuring stick we have - experimental demonstrations. The gaps are so huge they have not remotely been bridged by experimental demonstrations in labs or in the field." (ReMine, Walter, Private correspondence, 1999.) This point should not be debatable since there are plentiful statements from punctuationists admitting to the lack of clear ancestors and lineages in the fossil record.

You really ought to attribute things you lift wholesale.  Better yet, paraphrase and attribute.  That way you don't look like another Joseph Biden.

Ah, the dishonest creationist quote salad.

Your quote:

The extreme rarity of transitional forms in the fossil record persists as the trade secret of paleontology. The evolutionary trees that adorn our textbooks have data only at the tips and nods of their branches; the rest is inference, however reasonable, not the evidence of fossils." (Gould, Stephen J. The Pandas Thumb, 1980, p. 181.)

The real quote:

The extreme rarity of transitional forms in the fossil record persists as the trade secret of paleontology. The evolutionary trees that adorn our textbooks have data only at the tips and nodes of their branches; the rest is inference, however reasonable, not the evidence of fossils. Yet Darwin was so wedded to gradualism that he wagered his entire theory on a denial of this literal record:

The geological record is extremely imperfect and this fact will to a large extent explain why we do not find interminable varieties, connecting together all the extinct and existing forms of life by the finest graduated steps. He who rejects these views on the nature of the geological record, will rightly reject my whole theory.

Darwin's argument still persists as the favored escape of most paleontologists from the embarrassment of a record that seems to show so little of evolution [directly]. In exposing its cultural and methodological roots, I wish in no way to impugn the potential validity of gradualism (for all general views have similar roots). I only wish to point out that it is never "seen" in the rocks.

Paleontologists have paid an exorbitant price for Darwin's argument. We fancy ourselves as the only true students of life's history, yet to preserve our favored account of evolution by natural selection we view our data as so bad that we never see the very process we profess to study.

For several years, Niles Eldredge of the American Museum of Natural History and I have been advocating a resolution to this uncomfortable paradox. We believe that Huxley was right in his warning [1]. The modern theory of evolution does not require gradual change. In fact, the operation of Darwinian processes should yield exactly what we see in the fossil record. [It is gradualism we should reject, not Darwinism.]

[1] Referring to Huxley's warning to Darwin, literally on the eve of the publication of Origin of Species, that "[y]ou have loaded yourself with an unnecessary difficulty in adopting Natura non facit saltum [nature does not make leaps] so unreservedly." - Ed.

 

Note, the underlined portion, above, completely obviates the tiny little snippet you snagged.

You actually got the next quote correct, but you missed the context:

"At the higher level of evolutionary transition between basic morphological designs, gradualism has always been in trouble, though it remains the ‘official’ position of most Western evolutionists. Smooth intermediates between Bauplane [body plans] are almost impossible to construct, even in thought experiments; there is certainly no evidence for them in the fossil record (curious mosaics like Archaeopteryx do not count)." (Gould & Eldredge, "Punctuated Equilibria: the Tempo and Mode of Evolution Reconsidered," Paleobiology, 3:147, 1977, p.147).

As the Quote Mine Project points out:

It's now obvious that Gould and Eldredge weren't arguing against Archaeopteryx being a transitional form, but arguing that it wasn't an example of a perfectly smooth change between body plans (or "Baupläne"). For instance, the wing of Archaeopteryx was in essence the forelimb of a dinosaur covered with feathers. This is what Gould and Eldredge meant by the term "mosaic": a creature that is a mixture of both primitive and advanced features. But mosaic forms are exactly what we should expect from evolutionary transitions, since there's no reason to expect every part of the body to evolve at the same rate or at the same time. Evolution has no destination in mind, just as the Wright Brothers didn't envision modern jet fighters when they flew at Kitty Hawk.

But did Gould believe that Archaeopteryx was a transitional form? He did indeed, as can be seen in his article "The Tell-tale Wishbone" (Gould 1980). Any claim to the contrary would be a misrepresentation.

The next four paragraphs are lifted, verbatim, from a creationist website (Genesis Park):

Under a commonplace evolutionary misuse of terms, a "convergent form," like a "transitional form," contains character traits from two separate groups. The only difference is in how the Darwinists explain them. Archaeopteryx, having teeth and a tail, is said to be a transitional form because it fits the common descent story of birds evolving from reptiles. On the other hand, bats, having wings and utilizing echolocation to navigate, just like multiple species of birds, is said to be convergent. One must not say that bats are transitional between birds and mammals because it does not fit the accepted common descent story. Thus, Dawkins asserts, "It follows that the echolocation technology has been independently developed in bats and birds, just as it was independently developed by British, American, and German scientists." (Dawkins, Richard, The Blind Watchmaker, 1996, p. 96.) Unfortunately for evolutionary theory, convergent forms are abundant, while transitional candidates are rare.

Evolutionists create the illusion of ancestry by merging together, in rapid fire, these various techniques. (See, for example Cuffey, Roger J., "Paleontologic Evidence and Organic Evolution," p. 255-281 in Montagu, Ashley, ed., Science and Creationism, Oxford University Press, Oxford, 1984.) The point is that any collection of objects can arbitrarily be placed into a continuum, with some identified as transitional. This, however, is not sufficient to establish actual evidence for common descent. There must, instead, be a discernable pattern of lineages giving the supposed transitionals credibility. The data must occur along a long, narrow trail. The size of the gaps is not as important as the pattern. Once a lineage is determined, the transitional forms are self-evident.

While both creationists and evolutionists agree that there is a general pattern of nested hierarchy (which was recognized by Linnaeus long before Darwin’s work), the question for evolutionists remains one of lineage and ancestors. As more fossils have been found, the gaps and the lack of identifiable phylogeny have become more distinct. New discoveries have tended to obscure lineages previously believed by evolutionists to be reliable.

That is the whole point of punctuated equilibrium. Leading evolutionists do not claim that the fossils demonstrate phylogeny or gradual intergradations sufficient to prove large-scale evolution. To the contrary, they admit to the abundance of systematic, large gaps between major groups in the fossil record. Walter ReMine notes, "These absences are huge as measured by the only scientific measuring stick we have - experimental demonstrations. The gaps are so huge they have not remotely been bridged by experimental demonstrations in labs or in the field." (ReMine, Walter, Private correspondence, 1999.) This point should not be debatable since there are plentiful statements from punctuationists admitting to the lack of clear ancestors and lineages in the fossil record.

You really ought to attribute things you lift wholesale.  Better yet, paraphrase and attribute.  That way you don't look like another Joseph Biden.