Missing Links are the hypothetical intermediates between two differing types of organisms, like between humans and apes. They are termed “Missing” because they are…missing. “There are missing links all over the evolutionary tree”[i] between different kinds of organisms. How many missing links are there? Are they still missing? Why are they missing?
“There are many transitional fossils.”[ii]
Darwin’s tree of life explains how all current organisms are related to each other. Undiscovered transitional forms (Missing links) are the bridges or branches backward in time. Species evolve over time and branch out evolving into different species. So there should be a lot of transitional forms. Practically speaking, every fossil that we are lucky enough to find is a transitional fossil as organisms evolve from a previous ancestor into new species.
The number of transitional fossils is unknown. There are many factors as to why all of them have not been found. Fossilization only happens when the conditions are just right, so it is pretty rare. So fossils are pretty rare. Only a small portion of organisms even fossilize. Most fossils are shells, but the larger organisms are even more rare. [iii]
Also, only a small fraction of the available fossils have been found due to the incompleteness of the fossil record, the amount of rock to look through, and the small amount of scientists actually looking and digging for fossils. Erosion, the movement of the rocks, and non-scientific digging endeavors can cause many fossils to be destroyed and lost forever.
It is even possible that as ancient environments changed, the ancient organisms tended to change or evolve rapidly to survive. The change happened so rapidly that fossils are just not preserved, since again, conditions in the environment were not right for fossilization and therefore preserve the organism.
More links between different animal kinds are expected to be found. Just because they have not been found yet, doesn’t mean that they are not in the fossil record.
Every year, we are finding more and more fossils. In recent years, there have been many specific transitional fossils that have been found and here are five examples among others that could be named.
Fish to Amphibian Link: Tiktaalik Rosae
Reptile to Mammal Link: Thrinaxodon
Reptile to Bird Link: Archaeopteryx
Land Mammal to Aquatic Mammal Link: Ambulocetus natans
Quadrupedal Primate to Bipedal Primate Link: Australopithecus afarensis[iv]
Check back tomorrow for the Creation Answer. Thanks again for your constructive help.
by Brian Mariani and others
Is the above correct? Do you evolutionists agree with this position? I have tried to write it as you believe it. Do you have any disagreements or concerns or additions?
Before commenting, please read the following disclosures.
Any offensive language will automatically disqualify your comment for publication, even if the arguments contained are good. Please comment on the ideas that are presented and not the presenter. If your comment becomes an ad hominem argument and does not substantially address the issue, your comment will be disqualified as well. We are looking for real arguments, not fallacious ones, so that we can present and challenge opposing ideas and arguments as they are truly believed by evolutionists. We do not want to tear down straw men as well as you do not want to be misrepresented. Also, please keep your comments as brief as possible, and if the majority of the comment does not address the current issue, but becomes a red-herring, it will not be posted as well. If your comment does not fall into one of the above restrictions, then your comment will be posted unedited (you may want to check your spelling, grammar, etc.) We thank you for your time and comments.
One thing to keep in mind, each blog is one piece of evidence. Evidence has to then be interpreted, which is not a fact…but evidence strengthening or weakening a specific hypothesis or theory. So there can be multiple ways of interpreting the same evidence. I am not being unscientific, but asking more questions and being skeptical is being more scientific. I am still working on these, so please help with your comments.
If you would like to see if an AOI seminar is right for you, or you would like to help the work of Alpha Omega Institute, please visit our website events page or our donate page. Keep up to date with what AOI is doing. Thanks for your partnership.
[i] John D. Morris, Ph.D., What’s a Missing Link?, Institute for Creation Research, http://www.icr.org/article/2709/, accessed October 7, 2013.
[ii] Claim CC200, http://www.talkorigins.org/indexcc/CC/CC200.html, Accessed October 5, 2013.
[iii] Prothero, Donald R. (2007). Evolution: What the Fossils Say and Why it Matters. Columbia University Press.
[iv] Fossil Evidence, NOVA, PBS, http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/id/tran-nf.html, accessed October 5, 2013.