the profusion of living fossils - Institute for Creation Research

No. 143“LORD, how manifold are thy works!In wisdom hast thou made them all:the earth is full of thy riches”(Psalm 104:24).”November 2000THE PROFUSION OF LIVING FOSSILSEvolutionists consider what they call“living fossils” to be rare, the famous Coelacanthfish being the best-known example.The fossils of this fish are foundonly in rocks older than 70 million years(assuming the standard geologic timescale to be real), but living coelacanthshave been found in the Indian Ocean.New cases of so-called living fossilsdo turn up fairly often. Graptolites havebeen considered in the past to be indexfossils for the Ordovician period, 300 millionyears old. Yet they recently werefound still living in the south Pacific. 1Other famous living fossils includethe tuatara (supposedly extinct since theCretaceous Period until found still livingin New Zealand), the Lepidocaris crustacean(only found as fossils in Devonianrocks), the Metasequoia conifer tree(thought extinct for the past 20 millionyears), the Neopilina mollusk (supposedlyextinct for 280 million years), thelingula brachiopod (“extinct” since theOrdovician), and even the trilobite (chiefindex fossil of the even more ancient CambrianPeriod). 2Evolutionists tend to reserve the titleof “living fossil” for those animals andplants which had been considered extinctuntil suddenly they turned up living today.Consequently, the vast numbers ofliving organisms that were already knownby Henry M. Morris, Ph.D.*to be in the fossil record are generallyignored as examples of living fossils.These even include those organisms supposedto be the most ancient of all. Evolutionis supposed to have begun whenprokaryotes evolved out of the primevalsoup. It is significant, therefore, that:Fossils very similar to livingprokaryotes are found in rocksabout 3500 million years old. 3Likewise, the primitive one-celledorganisms called eukaryotes are supposedto have evolved from prokaryotes.But, these also are still living, essentiallyunchanged, in the modern world.Simple eukaryotes, resemblingliving unicellular algae, are firstconfirmed in the fossil recordabout 1500 million years ago andfirst suspected in rocks almost2000 million years old. 4The most important modern prokaryotesare probably the bacteria and theblue-green algae, and these certainlyshould be considered living fossils. Theyhave been found in abundance in 3.4 billionyear-old rocks from South America.Modern soil bacteria have been found inPrecambrian rocks. One wonders why, ifevolution really works, these “primitive”organisms have not changed significantlyin over a billion years.The prolific evolutionist, Stephen Jay*Dr. Morris is Founder and President Emeritus of ICR.a

Gould, has insisted that there is no evidencewhatever against evolution. Yet hestresses the fact that bacteria havechanged little since ancient times.The most salient feature of lifehas been the stability of its bacterialmode from the beginning ofthe fossil record until today and,with little doubt, into all futuretime so long as the Earth endures.5The same situation applies throughoutthe geologic column. In the supposed“oldest” period with metazoan fossils, allthe present-day animal phyla are foundas fossils, largely in modern form. AsGould says:In one of the most crucial andenigmatic episodes in the historyof life, . . . nearly all animal phylamade their first appearance in thefossil record at essentially thesame time, an interval of some 5million years (about 525 to 530million years ago) called theCambrian explosion. 6Speaking of the Cambrian fauna,there are many that still survive, all lookingmuch like they did over 500 millionyears ago. The prominent British evolutionists,Richard Dawkins, has made thefollowing comment:And we find many of them alreadyin an advanced state of evolution,the very first time they appear.It is as though they were justplanted there, without any evolutionaryhistory. Needless to say,this appearance of sudden plantinghas delighted creationists. 7Indeed it has. Until recently, the phylumof vertebrates had been considered alater arrival in evolutionary history. Butnot now! Even the vertebrate phylum nowextends into the Cambrian period, especiallywith the recent discovery of twofossil fish in China:bThe two new fossils . . . fromChengjiang are the most convincingEarly Cambrian vertebratesever found. 8The insects and other land invertebratesare also a very important group,and these practically all seem to be livingfossils. With respect to the arthropodphylum (the largest in the animal kingdom),consider the millipedes, for example.Indeed, the oldest fossils of landdwellinganimals are millipedes,dating to more than 425 millionyears ago. Incredibly, the archaicforms are nearly indistinguishablefrom certain groups livingtoday. 9The same phenomenon holds for practicallyall the insects.Compared with other life forms,insects are actually slow to evolvenew families—but they are evenslower to go extinct. Some 84 percentof the insect families alivetoday were alive 100 millionyears ago. . . . 10Whether bees or ants, cicadas orbeetles, termites or cockroaches, the fossilsof these and other insects are alwayspractically identical with (though oftenlarger than) their modern descendants.The same applies to the arachnids andmyriapods.Space does not allow discussion ofmodern amphibians (e.g., frogs, toads),reptiles (crocodiles, alligators, turtles),mammals (bats, squirrels, shrews, opossums,tarsiers, etc.), all of which (andmany, many others) are practically identicalwith their fossil representatives.Speaking of extinction, the dinosaurscome to mind. These also may have beenliving fossils up until modern times, exceptthat they were called dragons. Notmany people realize how closely the ancientand medieval descriptions of vari-

ous types of dragons correspond withmodern paleontological reconstructionsof various dinosaurs. But encyclopediaarticles on “Dragons” have occasionallynoted this characteristic. Dinosaurs wereaccording to two of these,. . . gigantic and astonishinglydragon-like extinct reptiles ofpast ages. 11The dragons of legend arestrangely like . . . the great reptileswhich inhabited the earthlong before man is supposed tohave appeared on the earth. 12The Bible, of course, also mentionsdragons as real living animals at the timeit was being written.There is no space here to discuss thevarious ages themselves but, in theyoung-earth model of geologic history,all the alleged “ages” were actually differentdeposits either of the great floodor of the residual catastrophes followingit. Thus, it is not surprising that the sedimentaryrocks laid down by the Floodcontain fossils of most of the creaturesstill surviving in the present age. Stillfurther correlation with extant plants andanimals will, no doubt, be developed asmore fossils are discovered.The fossil record is often sosparse that . . . there are plenty ofcases where groups survived fortens of millions of years withoutleaving a single fossil. 13In actuality, as documented in manybooks by young-earth creationists, thefossil record is not a record of long evolutionaryages, with distinctive life formsin each age, as evolutionists allege, butof just one age, that of the great flood.No wonder, then, that practically all livingorganisms are represented in the rocksof the geologic column.And in their marvelous variety andcomplexity they all bear witness to thewisdom and power of their Creator, whilethe great panorama of suffering and death(often even extinction) displayed in theirfossilized preservation is a perpetual reminder,not of evolution, but of the terribleconsequences of human sin on man’sentire dominion.References1. Sue Rigby, “Graptolites Come toLife,” Nature (vol. 362, March 18,1993), pp. 209–210.2. “Living Fossil Resembles Long-Extinct Trilobite,” Science Digest(vol. 42, December 1957), p. 490.3. Colin Patterson, Evolution (SecondEdition, London, Natural HistoryMuseum, 1999), p. 129.4. Ibid., p. 131.5. Stephen J. Gould, “The Evolutionof Life.” In Evolution! Facts andFallacies, Ed. by J. Wm. Schopf(San Diego: Academic Press, 1999),p. 5.6. Ibid., p. 38.7. Richard Dawkins, The BlindWatchmaker (New York: W.W.Norton Co., 1987).8. Philippe Janvier, “Catching the FirstFish,” Nature (vol. 402, November4, 1999), p. 21.9. William A. Shear, “Millipedes,”American Scientist (vol. 87, May/June 1999), p. 234.10. Carl Zimmer, “Insects Ascendant,”Discover (vol. 14, November 1993),p. 30.11. Article “Dragon” in EncyclopediaBritannica, 1949 edition.12. Article “Dragon” in World BookEncyclopedia, 1965 edition.13. Peter J. Bowler, Review of InSearch of Deep Time, by Henry Gee(Free Press, 1999). In AmericanScientist (vol. 88, March/April 2000),p. 169.c

IN WHAT WAYS HAS GOD BLESSED AMERICA?During this season of national introspection,even as we sing, “God BlessAmerica,” it would be good to step backand remember the many ways in whichGod has indeed blessed America.The land we call America is quitelarge, one of the largest nations in theworld, with abundant natural resources.It contains extensive woodlands providinglumber with which to build, and richtop soil in which crops flourish, capableof supporting a large population. Mineralsare here, from gypsum to iron to molybdenum,undergirding a diverse industrialcomplex. Even the stone is good,testified to by enduring monuments andbuilding facades.The climate is most agreeable. Althoughvarying from place to place, allsections are livable and productive. Rainfallis sufficient, and rivers of all sizesdistribute water, people, and products.Lots of oil, natural gas, and coal havebeen discovered here, which have fueledour industrialized economy. More modernfuels, like uranium and geothermal,abound here as well. And there is grandeurin the scenery from mountain majestyto pounding waves.Native people living here meldedwith a rich diversity of immigrants intothe American people, renowned for theirwork ethic and burning desire to carveout a good life for themselves and theirchildren. By and large, our ancestors werehonest people, respectful of the rights andvalues of others.Perhaps above all, those who forgedour nation’s documents and laws wereGod-fearing people, with a basic Christianoutlook on life, morals, and government,which set the course for maintainingthe freedoms we now take for granted.BY JOHN D. MORRIS, PH.D.Consider the charter of our nation,The Declaration of Independence, whereit can be read that “all men are createdequal . . . endowed by their Creator withcertain inalienable rights.” It has beenshown that while not all the founding fatherswere “born-again Christians,” theyacknowledged the truthfulness of theBible and the authority of the Creatorover His creation. They applied theseconcepts to the legislative process, thejudicial system, and standards for life.They devised a system of government“designed for a Christian people. It iswholly inadequate for any other.”Applying the basic freedom of religion,Christianity has flourished, with noone in America being denied access tothe truths of the gospel. Obeying the greatcommission, America has become a missionarynation, sending the Good Newsaround the world. God has blessed thisobedience and allowed our freedoms tocontinue. Even though we see the Christianmindset floundering, our nation retainsincredible liberties and is the envyof the world.If we would choose proper leaders,we would choose those who burn toprotect the freedoms our national forefatherssacrificed to insure. We wouldselect those whose personal lives mirrorthe lifestyle expected by our Creator.No individual is perfect, all politiciansare flawed, but we are entrustedwith the privilege of choosing thosewho would do the most good and theleast harm. We even have the opportunityof nominating and electing trulygodly Christians. This is a great blessing.But remember, with such blessingcomes the responsibility to choosewisely.dSINGLE COPIES 10¢ORDER FROM: INSTITUTE FOR CREATION RESEARCH © 2000 ALL RIGHTS RESERVEDP.O. BOX 2667, EL CAJON, CA 92021