"… I am ready to write it in big letters - there is not a single fossil that could serve as irrefutable evidence of the existence of transitional forms." You can also quote Charles Darwin himself, who at the end of his life wrote: "Why are geological formations not overflowing with fossil remains of" intermediate forms " ?"
“Disappointing fact”
At the beginning of October, various publications in the world and here in Russia came out with intriguing headlines: “Extinct dinosaurs were birds”, “A dinosaur ready to fly has been discovered” … long title: "Evidence of the evolutionary relationship of dinosaurs with modern birds has been discovered."
Really sensation? It looks like it. If, of course, this "missing link" between reptiles and birds is indeed found. After all, it's scary to think: they have been looking for him for no less than 150 years. During this time, a person has already visited the moon, "read" his genetic code, split an atom, etc., etc. And they cannot find the unfortunate "missing" bone in the ground, for some reason it is not there - only in the minds of scientists it sits like a thorn.
At various times, venerable scientists have admitted this with disappointment. In 1944, the evolutionist paleontologist George Simpson publicly stated that, surprisingly, all 32 orders of mammals appear suddenly and fully formed in the fossil record: “The oldest and most primitive representatives of each order already possess the basic characteristics of this order, and no case is known continuous series of transitional forms from one detachment to another.
In most cases, the gap is so sharp, and the gap is so large, that the question of the origin of the orders remains speculative and highly controversial.”Already in our time, another famous Darwinist, senior paleontologist of the British Museum of Natural History Colin Patterson, wrote the book“Evolution”. When asked why he did not include illustrations of transitional forms in it, Patterson replied: “If I knew examples of such forms, fossil or living, I would certainly include them in the book … I am ready to write this in large letters - there is not a single fossil, which could serve as irrefutable proof of the existence of transitional forms. "One can also quote Charles Darwin himself, who wrote at the end of his life:" Why are geological formations not overflowing with fossil remains of "intermediate forms"?
Clearly, there is no geological evidence for well-defined organic chains; and this is probably the most obvious and strong objection that can be raised against my theory.”Here is the story. The famous evolutionist and Marxist Stephen Gould summed it up as follows: "I believe that the failure to find a clear 'vector of progress' in the history of life is the most discouraging fact of the fossil record." Probably, this discouragement was the reason that from time to time the "missing link" is still … found.
The most famous and scandalous such find was Archeopteryx - "the oldest extinct bird of the lizard-tailed subclass," as it is written about it in the TSB. It was found in Bavaria in 1861, just two years after the publication of Charles Darwin's work "The Origin of Species by Natural Selection." The skeleton imprint of a winged lizard found on a piece of slate was given the name Archeopteryx. For a long time he was considered the progenitor of the bird tribe, until in 1985 two groups of researchers led by Fred Hoyle and Lee Spetner revealed that this was a forgery - feathers from modern birds were simply "glued" to the dinosaur.
Disputes about authenticity are still ongoing. Meanwhile, they are no longer fundamental, since, according to modern paleontology, Archeopteryx, if it really existed, would still be not a "link", but a dead-end branch of evolution. Also, bats, which have little in common with birds, do not in any way attract the "link" - they belong to the suborder of mammals of the order of bats. From whom they "originated" is also shrouded in mystery - their oldest remains, dating back 48-54 million years, show that they already had fully formed wings, and the inner ear (a very complex echolocation apparatus) had the same structure as in modern bats. It turns out that these creatures appeared out of "nowhere", having received as a gift their amazing abilities "from someone unknown." But back to our sensation. So, at last they found a "lizard,ready to fly”?
An elephant with wings
Two weeks ago, paleontologists led by Paul Sereno from the University of Chicago (USA) discovered the remains of a dinosaur in the Argentine province of Mendoza, which had so-called air sacs. Until now, the presence of such "bags" has distinguished birds from other animals. The fact is that flight in the air requires huge energy costs, which means that the body is oversaturated with oxygen.
Therefore, the breathing of birds is arranged in a special way. They each have five pairs of peculiar pump bellows, which are located in the spaces between the internal organs, under the skin and even inside the hollow bones. First, air enters the rear bags, from there - into the lungs, where gas exchange takes place, then the air enters the front bags and then is released outside. In this case, a portion of air passes through the entire respiratory system in two inhalation and two exhalation. The convenience here is that the lungs do not need to contract, making breathing intermittent - air passes through them in a continuous flow from the back bags to the front ones, as if a fan were turned on in the chest. Paul Sereno discovered approximately the same respiratory mechanism in the fossil lizard.
Sereno named the new dinosaur species Aerosteon (Latin for "airy bone"). This predator weighed several tons, was 10 meters long and lived about 80 million years ago. Air sacs were found in his front part of the chest, as well as in the bones and, presumably, under the skin - so that the aosteon could “inflate”, frightening other predators with its appearance. Could this "elephant" (it was even larger than an elephant) learn to fly in the future?
The question is funny. Inflating the sensation, "Moskovsky Komsomolets" and similar media outlets for obvious reasons kept silent that Sereno and his colleagues had no intention of making this dinosaur related to birds. Sereno believes that the air sacs served him mainly to release excess heat, since the beast did not have sweat glands and breathing was the only way to cool. In addition, the bags made it possible to slightly lighten the weight of the mastodon. Is arosteon an evolutionary link between lizards and birds?
Seriously doubts: Arosteon did not possess any features of the bird's skeleton, like a keel or a special chest. In addition, birds as a class arose earlier than this lizard ran on the land of today's Argentina. The last remark of the paleontologist confirms an amazing fact: in 1992, on the island of Vega near Antarctica, the skeleton of an ordinary duck was found, which is … 70 million years old. That is, in the Cretaceous period, when the lizards had just “evolved into a bird,” the duck “quack-quack” was already heard in the sky. The sensation with the elephant-like ancestor of birds, without having time to arise, is already blown away.
The "flying elephants" were not lucky. But the fish in the role of our ancestors managed to hold out much longer. In modern encyclopedias, the fossil ichthyosteg is still reported: “Ichthyostega is a genus of early tetrapods, lived about 365 million years ago, were about 1.5 m long and had seven toes. They represent the first intermediate link between fish and amphibians. " Since 1931, when the remains of ichthyosteg were found in Greenland, none of the evolutionists doubted that this is the "link". But recently, researchers from the universities of Uppsala in Sweden and McGill in Canada, having studied the fossils in detail, were surprised to find that in the last century, paleontologists, to put it mildly, embellished the possibilities of fossil fish. In particular, they argued that the ichthyostega moved on land like a lizard - bending with its entire body and helping itself with its paws. In fact, she could not crawl in this way, since her spine is in no way adapted to this. It also turned out that in the drawings the ichthyostega was depicted incorrectly, giving it the appearance of a lizard with four legs. From the skeleton, it is clear that she did not have hind legs - in their place were flippers, like those of seals. Therefore, getting on land, the unfortunate ichthyostega could barely move: bending in an arc, then, leaning on its tail, threw out the front part of the body, and after that the rear part was pulled up. Scientists are sure that this ugly fish did not have any "evolutionary" future - its genus ended its existence with the death of the last such creature.giving it the appearance of a lizard with four legs. From the skeleton, it is clear that she did not have hind legs - in their place were flippers, like those of seals. Therefore, getting on land, the unfortunate ichthyostega could barely move: bending in an arc, then, leaning on its tail, threw out the front part of the body, and after that the rear part was pulled up. Scientists are sure that this ugly fish did not have any "evolutionary" future - its genus ended its existence with the death of the last such creature.giving it the appearance of a lizard with four legs. From the skeleton, it is clear that she did not have hind legs - in their place were flippers, like those of seals. Therefore, getting on land, the unfortunate ichthyostega could barely move: bending in an arc, then, leaning on its tail, threw out the front part of the body, and after that the rear part was pulled up. Scientists are sure that this ugly fish did not have any "evolutionary" future - its genus ended its existence with the death of the last such creature.as scientists are sure, this ugly fish did not have - its kind ended its existence with the death of the last such creature.as scientists are sure, this ugly fish did not have - its kind ended its existence with the death of the last such creature.
Under the microscope
To date, Darwinists have accumulated many such "disappointments". They have to admit an immutable fact: there are no transitional "links" between different species of animals in the earth. And this fact, from their point of view, is inexplicable. Maybe it was just unlucky, maybe the search methods are imperfect? But what does it mean - unlucky? Fossil bones are constantly being found, 32 orders of mammals have been found in the ground. If these skeletons were found, then others belonging to the "transitional forms" should have been caught. This is all the more strange, because according to the theory of evolution, nature experimented blindly, by trial and error, and as a result of the natural selection of these "transitional forms" should have been visible and invisible.
And here - not one. And this despite the fact that with the help of modern equipment you can find a needle in a haystack. Just the other day, American paleontologists under the leadership of Richard Knecht reported that they were able to find a fossil fly, or rather, even … its traces. The imprint of the insect's body on the petrified bog mud and the microscopic dots left by the paws are perfectly visible in the photograph. Radiocarbon analysis showed that the age of the tracks was at least 310 million years, and geological data showed that the fly lived in the Carboniferous period of the Earth, that is, 360-286 million years ago.
These are the oldest insect footprints ever found. It is noteworthy that the find was made at the site of old excavations that paleontologists carried out in the first half of the 20th century. At that time, scientists did not have modern technical means, so they "missed" the fossil fly. Now the search is being carried out in the second, third circle, looking for traces of insect paws … And bird lizards and fish lizards still do not come across … Apparently, in the theory of evolution itself lies, as they say now, a system error. According to this theory, the evolutionary relationship between different species is based on the similarity of different parts of the body - the shape of the teeth, skull, limbs, and so on. Indeed, both man and various animals - we are all somewhat similar. Therefore, the message is this: since we are similarly arranged, we have a head with a body, limbs, two eyes, one mouth, etc., then it means thatwe descended from the same ancestor. Is it logical? Quite.
But here's a simple question. What about the fly that lived 310 million years ago - the very one that was imprinted by the American Knecht? She also has a head with a torso, two eyes, one mouth, limbs are similarly arranged. Or take a modern ant - outwardly it is very anthropomorphic, it is no coincidence that in cartoons it is so easily transformed into a human image. The question is, are we descended from an ant? Of course not! On the contrary, if you look at how we are internally arranged, it turns out that we are to each other the same as aliens.
The Darwinists themselves claim that we intersect with insects somewhere at the very beginning of the evolutionary ladder. But how did it happen that, evolving separately and in parallel with us, insects got two, not three or four, eyes, one head, one mouth, and not two or three, which, perhaps, would be more convenient for them … Why, despite our “alienness”, morphologically they are molded according to the same template as we are? So, then, external similarity is not the main thing? And the similarity of organs in living beings is not a hereditary trait, but simply a repeated technique of a certain Designer, Who tested it on different forms of life? And indeed it is. If you look closely at living nature, you can easily see that similarities are scattered among different species here and there, often without any "evolutionary" connection. This is really amazing!This can be called a "sensation" if you wish. But this is not what our media are paying attention to …
Peace of God
In fact, there are many amazing discoveries in science, which, unfortunately, will never make it to the front pages of newspapers. For some reason, popular media are more interested in far-fetched theories than in the realities of God's incomprehensible universe. For example, the mystery of the same insects - where does the mind come from if they are so small and there is no brain in them? But they still manage to communicate with each other! Isn't it a miracle?
Recently, entomologists in Germany, Australia and China published a report on an interesting experiment with bees. It is believed that the "bee dance" is the only symbolic way of communication known among invertebrates. Depending on the direction and distance from the food source discovered by the bee, the figures of her dance change, with the help of which she informs the population of the hive where they can get honey. Entomologists write in their report: “The assumption that different types of bees can possess different“dialects”of dance, has remained controversial until now. Also, it was unclear if different species could learn language and communicate with each other.” To find out, scientists conducted an experiment in China, creating a mixed colony of bees of different species, Asian and European. “Using video footage for surveillance, we first confirmedthat the dialects of the dance of the two are very different, even if they get their food in the same environment,”they report. In addition, they managed to find out that bees can correctly decode messages in other people's "dialects".
“These two species are able to communicate with each other: honey collectors belonging to the same species of bees could decode the dance of their 'distant relatives' and successfully identify the food source,” the report says. Scientists note that this is the first message about successful communication between two species of bees, as well as the very possibility of teaching insects "language" skills. Bees can not only "talk", but also count, being natural mathematicians. The same scientists conducted another experiment in China. Away from the hives, they drew four stripes of different colors on the ground and placed food behind them. The scout bee found food first. When she returned, she relayed the information to the entire swarm with a series of swaying dances. There were no other landmarks on the ground, so the scout needed to count stripes to indicate the location of the food. The swarm of bees immediately went to the indicated place.
Then the scientists complicated the experiment by moving the food further, changing the distance between the stripes and even replacing them with other markers. But this did not confuse the mathematician insects - they stubbornly flew the exact number of landmarks. Researchers have made sure that bees can count. In any case, up to four. And this despite the fact that the bee's brain is no larger than a grain of sand.
People traditionally treat bees with respect, because they are such workers, and bark beetles are called pests. Meanwhile, the bast beetle Dendroctonus frontalis not only harm the pine forests, but are engaged, so to speak, in agricultural activities: plantations of edible mushrooms are planted under the bark of trees. It was recently revealed that they take care of their plantings using chemical pesticide treatments, just like people on farms. The beetle gnaws winding passages under the pine bark and sows them with the Entomocorticium fungus, which serves as food for its larvae. At the same time, the seed material - fungal spores - is carefully stored by an adult bark beetle in special recesses (mycangia) on the underside of the chest.
Another fungus, Ophiostoma, interferes with the work of the "tree-grower", which is not suitable for food for larvae and plays the role of an aggressive weed on beetle plantations. The weed fungus does not act alone, it also has symbiont patrons - small ticks that move from one tree to another, clinging to the bast beetle. The mites feed on the Ophiostoma fungus, and as a "service fee" help the fungus to spread through forests and enter the gallery of mushroom beetles. At the same time, ticks for transferring fungi also have special depressions on the body, similar to mycangia of beetles.
In this complex symbiotic system, there is another participant, the fungus Ceratocystiopsis, which has a mutually beneficial relationship with ticks, but can also serve as food for beetle larvae. Such is a complex agronomic picture. Examining the contents of mycangia and fungi-seeded passages under an electron microscope, the researchers discovered, in addition to the three types of fungi listed above, thin filaments of actinobacteria. It turned out that beetles carry two types of actinobacteria in their mycangias - white and red.
Scientists have not yet figured out the purpose of white actinobacteria, but red ones effectively suppress the growth of the weed fungus. That is, it is nothing more than pesticides that help the beetles fight for high yields. It is surprising that people relatively recently thought of using pesticides in agriculture, and "unreasonable" bugs, probably millions of years ago, have arranged their farms "according to the last word." Who taught them this? This is, indeed, a question - much more interesting than the imaginary riddles of the speculative theory of evolution. If we digress from the scientific arguments "for" and "against" evolution and look from the outside at this too protracted discussion, it becomes clear: in fact, the problem " missing link”- this is not a problem of paleontology at all, but of certain minds that really lack something, namely, complete confidence that there is no God.
That is why, with strange frequency in the media, “encouraging” headlines appear: “The missing link has been found …” It looks like a shamanic spell. No matter how much you repeat this mantra, of course, nothing will change in God's creation. But this will affect the consciousness of people, soothe: since there was evolution, then there is no need to think about your place in this world and answer to the Creator.