Does the elephant’s sixth “toe” represent an example of common descent or common design? Recent extensive research, using modern technologies, weighs in on a centuries-long debate over the origin and purpose of the elephant’s sixth toe. Fossil records indicate that the toe first appeared in elephant anatomy 40 million years ago when elephantine species began to undergo changes in size and habitat.
On the December 29, 2011 episode of Science News Flash, I discuss the data and the implications for the creation-evolution issue. Listen to find out why this extra digit corroborates convergence, a decidedly unevolutionary phenomenon.