meet your ancestor

By Diogenes ( articles ) | Apr 06, 2006

Evolutionary biologists are calling it a "fish with fingers" or (far more picturesque) "a fish that could do pushups." Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome Tiktaalik roseae, a fossil that is being touted as perhaps a missing link in the fossil record: a creature that might have moved out of the seas onto land.

The Guardian breathlessly explains the significance of this find:

As such, it will be a blow to proponents of intelligent design, who claim that the many gaps in the fossil record show evidence of some higher power.

Wrong.

The "many gaps in the fossil record" (and thanks for that rare admission) don't demonstrate anything-- about intelligent design or any other theory. Gaps are not evidence. Gaps are the lack of evidence.

What the gaps in the fossil record show is that the theory of evolution is unproven. The evidence that could prove the theory is mysteriously unavailable. Maybe Tiktaalik roseae will plug one gap, but there are many more.

If the media devoted just half as much attention to the arguments against evolutionary theory as they now devote to arguments against intelligent design, stand-up comedians could coax a jaded audience to chuckle just by saying "Charles Darwin."