============================
Posted on 07/31/2007 10:18:52 AM PDT by GodGunsGuts
...His findings: Overall, approximately 35 percent of the 982 trilobite species exhibited some variation in some aspect of their appearance that was evolving. But more than 70 percent of early and middle Cambrian species exhibited variation, while only 13 percent of later trilobite species did so.
"There's hardly any variation in the post-Cambrian," he said. "Even the presence or absence or the kind of ornamentation on the head shield varies within these Cambrian trilobites and doesn't vary in the post-Cambrian trilobites."...
(Excerpt) Read more at sciencedaily.com ...
See post #19
great find, the Darwinists own data proves them wrong.
No, they will never be proven wrong if they can always change the theory after the fact.
Ridiculous.
The number of phyla was greater in the Cambrian age, but the total number of species, over time, is much greater than during that period.
Two points:
1) No one ever said Darwin knew everything there is to know about biology himself.
2) Evolution explains what we see in biology far better than any theory in physics explains why an apple falls to the ground. There’s no doubt that species evolve over time, or how they do it. There is much doubt and controversy about how exactly gravity works over distance.
(I hate getting into these evolution discussions here in FR because this is the place for conservatives to come together and discuss politics. I did not join this website in 2001 in order to get into endless arguments about evolution. I feel uncomfortable doing this. But every once in a while I have to stick in my opinion on this subject.)
“great find, the Darwinists own data proves them wrong.”
Proves creationist wrong? What needs to be proved.... I thought we all agree that creationist who believe the Earth is 6,000 old are evolutionary dead ends?
Praise Jesus for evolutionary science!! Praise Jesus for making you a primate!!
The picture of Natalie Gulbis has convinced me that a higher being was involved in Creation!
Just out of curiosity, in your opinion which explanation fits the facts of the fossil record better, creation or evolution (and why)?
I got to post 8 and forgot what the thread was about.
============================
Again, see post #19.
Mass extinctions, lol.
GodGunsGuts,
I love your screenname. It’s excellent.
Obviously I think evolution explains (and predicts what we’ll find in the future) in the fossil record or I wouldn’t have posted what I did.
Why? Because of everything I’ve read on the subject over several decades.
But let me repeat: I did not join FR in 2001 (and haven’t stuck with it for all these years) in order to get into arguments on this subject.
We just have to agree to disagree on this one.
LOL...apparently that post achieved its intended purpose. One might even say it was intelligently designed :o)
Thanks. Saw it on a belt buckle (which had the added words “Made America Free”). I’m fine with that. But if you ever feel up to debating the fossil record, I’m here for you :o)
PS For what it’s worth, I’m one of those people who believe that the creation/evolution debate has profound political implications, both for America and the world.
...Webster combed through 68 previously published studies of trilobites, searching for descriptions of evolving characteristics that could be incorporated into his analysis. After eliminating studies that were inappropriate for inclusion, 49 still remained.He focused on actively evolving characteristics. The trilobite head alone, for example, displays many such characteristics. These include differences in ornamentation, number and placement of spines, and the shape of head segments. His findings: Overall, approximately 35 percent of the 982 trilobite species exhibited some variation in some aspect of their appearance that was evolving. But more than 70 percent of early and middle Cambrian species exhibited variation, while only 13 percent of later trilobite species did so.
"There's hardly any variation in the post-Cambrian," he said. "Even the presence or absence or the kind of ornamentation on the head shield varies within these Cambrian trilobites and doesn't vary in the post-Cambrian trilobites."
Paleontologists have proposed two ideas to account for why variation within species declined through time. One is ecological. In the very early Cambrian seas, fewer organisms existed than today, which meant that they faced less competition for food. "You didn't really have to be tightly specialized to make a living in the Cambrian," Webster said.
But as evolution gave rise to more varieties of organisms, ecological communities became more diverse. "You had to be very fine-tuned to your particular niche to make a living and to beat out competitors for a limited resource."
The genomic hypothesis offers a second explanation for the decline of within-species variation over time. According to this idea, internal processes in the organism were the key factors. Various developmental processes interact with one another to control the growth and formation of body parts as any organism progresses from egg to adult.
"It's been suggested that early on in evolutionary history, in the Cambrian Period, the degree to which these different developmental processes interacted with each other within the organism was a lot less," Webster said. "As a result, the constraints on what the final organism looked like were relatively low."
Both hypotheses are equally viable in light of Webster's latest findings. "We need to tease apart what's controlling this pattern of high within-species variation. There's a lot more work to do," he said.
Are you a fisherman?
==The original population stayed mostly unchanged and other trilobytes were outcompeted by the unchanged population.
Apparently the outcompeted themselves into extinction. How does that fit into evolutionary theory again?
ROFLMAO!!!...........Everybody here at work got a laff aloud at that!.....
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.