Transitional fossil

{{bronze}}[[File:FS1.jpg|thumb|right|165px|What was that about half a wing not being useful?]]{{creationism}}
{{cquote|So many intermediate forms have been discovered between fish and [[amphibian]]s, between amphibians and [[reptiles]], between reptiles and [[mammals]], and along the [[primate]] lines of descent that it often is difficult to identify categorically when the transition occurs from one to another particular species.|||{{wpl|National Academy of Sciences}}<ref>[http://web.archive.org/web/20001011165438/http://www.nap.edu/html/creationism/evidence.html "Evidence Supporting Biological Evolution"]</ref>}}
A '''transitional fossil''' ([[Not_even_wrong|incoherently]]<ref group=note>As this article discusses, the very suggestion of a "missing link" necessitates a fundamental misunderstanding of how [[evolution]] ''even works'' ([[Willful_ignorance|willfully]] or [[Hanlon's_razor|otherwise]]).</ref> [[Weasel_word|misnamed]] "'''missing link'''" by [[Creationists]]) is a [[fossil]] of an organism that has traits from multiple evolutionary stages.

==Creationist denialism==
{{main|One single proof}}
{{cquote|Science has ''NEVER'' found a genuine transitional form that is [[Not_even_wrong|one kind of animal crossing over into another kind]] — either living or in the fossil record — and there's supposed to be ''BILLIONS'' of them!|||[[Kirk Cameron]], mere moments before going [[Crocoduck|full idiot]]<ref>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a0DdgSDan9c&feature=youtu.be&t=222</ref>}}
Proponents of creationism claim that "[[evolutionists]]" have had "over 140 years to find a transitional fossil and that nothing approaching a conclusive transitional form has ever been found" — despite the discovery of ''[[Archaeopteryx]]'' (a transitional form between maniraptoran [[dinosaur]]s and basal (primitive) [[bird]]s, and among the best examples of evolution) only two years after [[Darwin]] published ''[[The Origin of Species]]''.

Creationists [[Lenski affair|say]] that we "never saw evolution happen". Not only is this [[Richard Lenski#Lenski's long-term E. Coli evolution experiment and intelligent design|false]], but since they [[Burden_of_proof|brought it up]], we should probably address that we never saw any of the [[bullshit]] mentioned in the [[Bible]] happen, either. Oops.

===Impossible standard of evidence===
{{main|Moving the goalposts}}
Finding transitional forms never impresses creationists, and for a very simple reason.

If transitional form B — fitting snugly between known species A & C — is found, [[Moving the goalposts|creationists will suddenly demand that "actual" transitional forms — now between A & B ''and'' B & C — be located]], lest (they declare) ''the existence of transitional forms to begin with'' is to be considered bunk.  For bonus points they may actually say see, now there are ''two'' gaps!

Apparently, the only thing that would satisfy them is a complete, unbroken set of generation-by-generation fossils of every organism that ever lived in a direct line of descent from the first [[bacterium]] to [[Charles Darwin]]'s grandfather.<ref>[[Erasmus Darwin]], only the rockingest 18<sup>th</sup> century doctor ''ever''!</ref>

We're kidding, of course.  [[Argumentum_ad_nauseam|No matter how many fossils are found, this demand is perpetually extended]] by the creationists all the way down to the individual level, looping us back around from the geological timespans that formation of species require to the shortsighted comparison of parent-child differences, where obviously no "transitional form" occurs (since we can safely assume that no further lines of descent exist ''between your own parents and yourself'').

While this clearly absurd and impossible standard of positive evidence will never be met — nor could it be — creationists struggle to find even a single paleozoic panda as [[negative evidence]] against [[evilution]]. Oops.

==The misconception of "missing links"==
{{See also|God of the gaps}}
[[File:Missinglink.gif|thumb|right|The missing link between Google 1.0 and Google 2.0.]]
[[File:Human evolution scheme.svg|thumb|''The March of Progress'' shows transitional forms but gives the illusion of linear progress to more advanced species]]
The term "missing link" is just an obsolete (and [[FUD|rather weasely]]) synonym for "transitional form". It is generally avoided in [[science|scientific]] discussions as it is suggestive of several misunderstandings about [[evolution]] — many of which Creationists subscribe to, of course. These include:

* The old idea of a [[Great Chain of Being]], in which there is a linear progression "upward" presumably ending with humans, just underneath [[gods]] and other divine beings. This is an example of {{wpl|orthogenesis}}, the idea that evolution is linear. Concepts of evolution since [[Darwin]] recognize, to the contrary, that evolutionary change often involves branching, and that [[unguided evolution]] has no preferred "direction".

* The idea that the [[fossil record]] is the only type of [[evidence]] which can establish a connection between different [[life]] forms. The preponderance of the evidence for evolutionary connections always has been found in living things from the present ("neontology") rather than solely in the fossil record ("[[palaeontology]]"). Comparative study of [[DNA]] since the elucidation of its structure is just one of the remarkable new lines of investigation.

* Another mistaken idea is that there is a scandalous gap in the fossil record especially with regard to [[human]] evolutionary history. While a hundred years or more ago, there were very few [[fossil]]s of human precursors, even as early as the 19<sup>th</sup> century, there were famous fossils such as Neanderthal (''[[Homo neanderthalensis]]'') and Java man (''[[Homo erectus]]''), and the number has dramatically increased as explorations have concentrated on productive regions in [[Africa]] (as suggested by Darwin, but largely ignored at first) since the mid-20<sup>th</sup> century.

* The final mistaken idea is that there is precisely one form: '''the''' missing link, which makes the connection between the past and the present. Evolution is understood ever since Darwin as an ongoing process in which one can expect many changes, sometimes very small, which can be fully appreciated only in their places in a web of relationships over stretches of [[time]].

* Another problem is that [[evolution denial]]ists will simply claim that there is another missing link even when a missing link was found. Let's just say that modern humans are Human 2.0 and some early form of "humans" is called Human 1.0. Evolution denialists [[moving the goalposts|would claim]] that we need to find the missing link of Human 1.5. If Human 1.5 is discovered, that creates two new missing links, Human 1.25 and Human 1.75 that evolution denialists would say need to be discovered. If those two missing links are discovered, then the four new missing links Human 1.125, Human 1.375, Human 1.625, and Human 1.875 would need to be discovered. And so on. The only way to satisfy evolution denialists would be to have a record of all "humans" or even all life that has ever existed. Even if every fossil organism were discovered and categorized, there would still be "missing links" because the likelihood that bones become fossilized is very rare since fossilization requires a very specific set of geological conditions.<ref>[http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/what-are-the-odds-of-a-de/ What are the odds of a dead dinosaur becoming fossilized?] Paleontologist Gregory M. Erickson of Florida State University explains. (September 16, 2002) ''Scientific American''.</ref>

==Examples of transitional fossils==
{{hatnote|Main article: [[List of transitional forms]]}}
Since then, many other transitional forms, such as ''Ambulocetus'' and ''[[Pakicetus]]''<ref>[http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/abstract/263/5144/210 Fossil Evidence for the Origin of Aquatic Locomotion in Archaeocete Whales], in ''Science'' 14 January 1994</ref><ref>[http://www.fsteiger.com/whales.html Ambulocetus as a Fossil Transitional], Lenny Flank, 1995</ref> (land [[mammal]]s to marine cetaceans), and ''[[Tiktaalik]]''<ref>[http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v440/n7085/abs/nature04639.html A Devonian tetrapod-like fish and the evolution of the tetrapod body plan], in ''Nature'' 6 April 2006.</ref> and ''Acanthostega''<ref>[http://www.tolweb.org/Acanthostega Acanthostega: TOL]</ref> ([[fish]] to tetrapods) have been found. 
==Bibliography==
*''The Accidental Species: Misunderstandings of Human Evolution'' (2013) Henry Gee [[Special:Booksources/9780226271200|ISBN 9780226271200]]

==See also==
*[[The incontrovertible evidence of common descent]]
*[[List of transitional forms]]
*[[Feathered dinosaurs]]
*[[Ask Darwinists]]

==External links==
*There is an overview of many of these at [http://www.talkorigins.org/faqs/faq-transitional.html talk.origins]
*{{wpa|Transitional fossil}} for the truth
*Futurama's Professor Farnsworth [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UuIwthoLies shows lots of transitionals,] which of course does no good, and leads to [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RaY9k6tuLog this, which we can all appreciate.]

==Notes==
{{reflist|group=note}}

==References==
{{reflist}}

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[[Category:Transitional fossils| ]]
[[Category:Science]]
[[Category:Denialism]]
[[Category:Evolution]]
[[Category:Evidence against a recent creation]]

Categories: Transitional fossils, Science, Denialism, Evolution, Evidence against a recent creation