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| Q1 | All the larger groups of animals, e.g. fishes, amphibians, reptiles, mammals seem to have appeared suddenly on the earth, spreading themselves, so to speak, in an explosive manner in their various shapes and forms. Nowhere is one able to observe or prove the transition of one species into another, variation only being possible within the species themselves" Evolutionist, Max Westenhofer as quoted in Dewar's More Difficulties, p. 94 | Max Westenhofer died in 1957 - nearly 50 years ago! I have no idea how old this quote is, but it is hardly relevant to the modern science of palaeontology. For an excellent account of the story of the fish/amphibian transition, read Jenny Clack's book, "Gaining Ground". | out-of-date |
| Q2 | "The evidence of Geology today is that species seem to come into existence suddenly and in full perfection, remain substantially unchanged during the terms of their existence, and pass away in full perfection. Other species take their place, apparently by substitution, not by transmutation" Geologist, Joseph Le Conte | Joseph Le Conte died in 1901 - over 100 years ago! We have discovered a lot of fossils in the past 100 years. | out-of-date |
| Q3 | "Why then is not every geological formation and every stratum full of such intermediate links? Geology assuredly does not reveal any such finely graduated organic chain; and this, perhaps is the most obvious and gravest objection which can be urged against my theory." Charles Robert Darwin, The Origin of Species: The Preservation of Favored Races in the Struggle for Life, 1st edition reprint. Avenel Books | Darwin died in 1882! In any case, this quotation is taken from the begining of a section of the book in which he provides an explanation for the patchy fossil record. Taking it out of context in this way is dishonest | misrepresentation |
| Q4 | The extreme rarity of transitional forms in the fossil record persists as the trade secret of paleontology (study of fossils). In any local area, a species does not arise gradually by the steady transformation of its ancestors, it appears all at once and fully formed." Dr. Stephen J. Gould, Prof of Geology and Paleontology, Harvard University. Mentioned in one of his regular columns in Natural History Magazine (1977) and also in The Panda's Thumb, 1980, p. 181-182 | Again, a quote taken out of context. Gould was presenting his argument for punctuated equilibrium. Note the phrase 'in any local area' Is the author seriously suggesting that Gould did not believe that evolution occured? | misrepresentation |
| Q5 | "different species usually appear and disappear from the record without showing the transitions that Darwin postulated -- we are now about 120 years after Darwin and the knowledge of the fossil record has been greatly expanded. We now have a quarter of a million fossil species but the situation hasn't changed much -- We have fewer examples of evolutionary transitions than we had in Darwins' time" Dr. David Raup, a paleontologist at the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago. Field Museum Natural History Bulletin 50:22- 29 | Again, a quotation taken out of context which forms part of a larger discussion. | misrepresentation |
| Q6 | "Evolution requires intermediate forms between species and paleontology does not provide them" Dr. David B. Kitts, Paleontologist | Who goes on to say "The
claim has been repeatedly made that the fossil record provides a basis
for the falsification of synthetic theory [Neo-Darwinism] and Simpson
has demonstrated that this is not the case." Kitts outlines several different hypotheses as to why the fossil record appears the way it does, among them Punctuated Equilibrium, but at no point does he abandon evolution as an explanation for what is seen. see http://www.talkorigins.org/faqs/quotes/mine/part1-3.html |
misrepresentation |
| Q7 | "The known fossil record fails to document a single example of phyletic evolution accomplishing a major morphologic transition" Evolutionist, Dr. Steven M. Stanley | Stanley actually wrote: "Some
distinctive living species clearly originated in the very recent past,
during brief instants of geologic time. Thus, quantum speciation is a
real phenomenon. Chapters 4 through 6 provide evidence for the great
importance of quantum speciation in macroevolution (for the validity of
the punctuational model). Less conclusive evidence is as follows: (1) .
. . (5) The known fossil record fails to document a single example of
phyletic evolution accomplishing a major morphologic transition and
hence offers no evidence that the gradualistic model can be valid." see http://www.skepticfiles.org/misctext/stanley.htm Once again, it is part of a larger discussion presented out of context |
misrepresentation |
| Q8 | "The record certainly did not reveal gradual transformations of structure in the course of time. On the contrary, it showed that species generally remained constant throughout their history. New types or classes seemed to appear fully formed, with no sign of an evolutionary trend by which they could have emerged from an earlier type." Bowler, 'Evolution: The History of an Idea', 1984, p. 187 | I can't track down the source of this quote. Can anyone give me the context? It reads as an historical account of the development of evolutionary theory, and may well refer to the situtation in the middle of the 19th century. | don't know |
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