From: ingles@engin.umich.edu (Ray Ingles)
Subject: Re: Creation Evidences
Date: Thu, 17 Dec 92 14:31:46 EST
Organization: University of Michigan Engineering, Ann Arbor

In article <62899@mimsy.umd.edu> folta@cs.umd.edu (Wayne Folta) writes:
>>How about stuff like meteoric dust, the decay of the earth's magnetic
>>field, Archaeopteryx is classed as bird, the recession of the moon, 
>        ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
>>and other classic young-earth creationist drivel.
>
   
[deletions]

>   No doubt it can be argued that Archaeopteryx hints of a reptilian
>   ancestry but surely hints do not provide a sufficient basis...

[deletions]

 What follows is something posted a while back by James Lippard, in
response to a similarly-themed posting by Bob Bales...

--------------------begin quoted text----------------------------------
You cite Chris McGowan's _In the Beginning..._ below.  If you have this
source, and aren't just citing it via another source, you should
examine the tables on pp. 116-117.  I will reproduce them here:

		Reptilian Condition		Avian Condition
HIP		1. Pubic peduncle present.	No pubic peduncle.
TAIL		2. Long, bony tail.		Short, bony tail.
		3. No pygostyle.		Pygostyle present.
VERTEBRAE	4. Articular surfaces not	Articular surfaces
		   saddle-shaped.		saddle-shaped.
CHEST		5. No bony sternum.		Bony sternum present.
		6. No wishbone.			Wishbone present.
HAND		7. Usually three well-		Only one well-
		   developed fingers.		developed finger (2nd),
						thumb reduced to small
						size, finger 3 not visible.
		8. Three well-developed		Two well-developed
		   metacarpal bones.		metacarpal bones.
		9. Metacarpal bones unfused.	Metacarpal bones fused.
ANKLE REGION	10. Metatarsal bones separate.	Metatarsal bones lose
						separate identity.
		11. No hypotarsus.		Hypotarsus present.
ABDOMEN		12. Abdominal ribs present.	No abdominal ribs.
FEATHERS	13. Feathers apparently absent.	Feathers present.

Checklist of Reptilian and Avian Features of Archaeopteryx

		Reptilian Condition		Avian Condition
HIP		1. Pubic peduncle present.
TAIL		2. Long, bony tail.
		3. No pygostyle.
VERTEBRAE	4. Articular surfaces do not
		appear to be saddle-shaped (caution
		is required here because only two
		articular surfaces can be seen).
CHEST		5. No bony sternum.
		6.				Wishbone present.
HAND		7. Three well-developed fingers
		(each with the same number of bones
		as in most dinosaurs).
		8. Three well-developed metacarpal
		bones.
		9. Metacarpal bones unfused.
ANKLE REGION	10. Metatarsal bones separate.
		11. No hypotarsus.
ABDOMEN		12. Abdominal ribs present.
FEATHERS	13.				Feathers present.

Given the above, given that the most recent Archaeopteryx specimen
found had previously been misclassified as the dinosaur Compsognathus,
and given that Hoyle and Wickramasinghe have been arguing that 
Archaeopteryx is a hoax created by carving on a dinosaur fossil, do
you really want to maintain that Archaeopteryx is "100% bird"?


Jim Lippard              Lippard@CCIT.ARIZONA.EDU
Dept. of Philosophy      Lippard@ARIZVMS.BITNET
University of Arizona
Tucson, AZ 85721

---------------end quoted text----------------------------------

 I think this helps to establish that _A_ really should be regarded as
a transitional form...
 Also, to address another point that you raised that I deleted to save
space, there is a big 'Transitional Fossils Faq' which shows that
transistional fossils are not quite the rarity implied by some anti-
evolution texts.

 Sincerely,
 Ray Ingles
 ingles@engin.umich.edu

 "Always yeild to temptation. It may not pass your way again." - Robert
 A. Heinlein