Subject:
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Re: Problems with Darwin's theory
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.off-topic.debate
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Date:
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Wed, 7 Feb 2001 16:58:43 GMT
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Viewed:
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364 times
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In lugnet.off-topic.debate, Larry Pieniazek writes:
> In lugnet.off-topic.debate, Steve Chapple writes:
>
> > Can someone demonstrate how the fossil record supports evolution?
>
> For the 39th time.
>
> The fossil record seems to indicate that species appear, then disappear.
> Take trilobites, for example. Older ones are not as specially diverse as
> later ones. But after the Devonian extinction, they're all gone. Where did
> they go?
Just a note: Trilobites as a group aren't gone after the Devonian.
They take a major hit in the Devonian extinctions, but have a minor
comeback, surviving until the Permian. However, that means it's a
great example of evolution, extinction, and (partial) recovery.
However, placodermi (jawed armoured fishes) vanished completely,
except for one possible specimen from the lower Mississippian.
They're the only completely extinct class of vertebrates--and
one must ask, where did they go? Placoderm development is also
exceptionally well-documented, in part because the armoured bits
fossilize rather well.
> Other species are present in the record instead, apparently occupying the
> same or similar morphological niches.
In the case of trilobites, after the Devonian episode they were
on a par with families that had developed later and, as a result,
could compete fairly for these newly vacated niches. The end
result? Fewer trilobites, more other beasties that share or
improve upon certain qualities they possessed (especially the
bony fishes, who were IIRC the major beneficiaries of the Devonian
extinctions).
Anyways, just a few bits and pieces.
best
LFB
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Message is in Reply To:
 | | Re: Problems with Darwin's theory
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| (...) For the 39th time. The fossil record seems to indicate that species appear, then disappear. Take trilobites, for example. Older ones are not as specially diverse as later ones. But after the Devonian extinction, they're all gone. Where did (...) (23 years ago, 7-Feb-01, to lugnet.off-topic.debate)
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