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Evidence ID: BIO-EV01
Evidence: Appearance of Life was Sudden Not Gradual
Summary: Darwin's theory of evolution is a process of stepwise refinement characterized by the slow, incremental advancement of living organisms over long periods of time. Unfortunately, the fossil records during the early Cambrian period demonstrate that distinct phyla appeared suddenly without any record of intermediates. Moreover, this brief period was followed by a much longer period devoid of any macroscopic evolution or new phyla. Evolutionary paleontologists have been unable to demonstrate the efficacy of Darwin's theory of gradualism.
Description: Charles Darwin founded his entire theory of evolution on two principles [REF-DAR01].
The first principle is the random mutation of living cells emanating from a universal common ancestry. According to Darwin, mutations are caused by changes in environmental conditions, migration patterns, food supply, and many other factors. Neo-Darwinists have since refined this principle and applied it to the micro-mutations of DNA after its discovery in 1953.
The second principle is the formative process of natural selection of living cells and organisms. This principle is perhaps the most important in that the survival of species depends on an organism's ability to adapt and propagate. We commonly refer to this as the "survival of the fittest" principle.
Darwin's theory of evolution is a process of stepwise refinement referred to as gradualism. Gradualism is characterized by the slow, incremental advancement of living organisms over long periods of time, ergo, billions of years.
So, how do the research findings of paleontologists align with the Darwin's theory of gradualism?
The Cambrian Explosion is an extraordinary biological event that occurred at the beginning of the Cambrian Period sometime between 541 million and approximately 530 million years ago. This abbreviated period was marked by the sudden appearance and proliferation of the major phyla that comprise the majority of today's animal species.
This extraordinary event was first documented by paleontologist William Buckland in the 1840s in his book Geology and Mineralogy Considered with Reference to Natural Theology [REF-BUC01]. Buckland's findings in the fossil records conflicted with Darwin's theory of evolution presented in the late 1850's.
Darwin remarked in his famous work On the Origin of Species [REF-DAR01],
"To the question why we do not find rich fossiliferous deposits belonging to these assumed earliest periods prior to the Cambrian system, I can give no satisfactory answer. The case at present must remain inexplicable, and may be truly urged (used) as a valid argument against the views here entertained."
"Why then is not every geological formation and every stratum full of such intermediate links? Geology assuredly does not reveal any such finely graduated organic chain, and thus, perhaps is the most obvious and gravest objection which can be urged (used) against my theory".
"If it could be demonstrated that any complex organism existed, which could not possibly have been formed by numerous, successive, slight medications, my theory would be absolutely break down."
Darwin's uncertainty stemmed from the limited research and technological advancements available during the mid-19th century. Significant breakthroughs in microbiology, genetics, paleontology, and geology had yet to emerge, along with transformative inventions like the electron microscope and DNA sequencer. The microscope, originally developed in 1590 AD, was the sole scientific instrument accessible to Darwin. The technological disparities of his time are depicted below.
Essentially, Darwin questioned the truth claims of his own theory for lack of evidence. Clearly, Darwin's Theory of Evolution was based on conjecture, not demonstrable evidence. He knew that the fossil records were incomplete and assumed that over time intermediate fossils would be discovered to fill in the gaps before and after the Cambrian period.
Buckland's findings were later confirmed in 1911 by paleontologist Charles Walcott. Walcott uncovered approximately 65,000 specimens at the Burgess Shale in British Columbia, Canada. The Burgess Shale is the earliest excavation of fossil deposits containing soft-part imprints from the Cambrian period. Other excavations from the Cambrian period have been since discovered.
What is remarkable about Walcott's findings is that there were no pre-Cambrian specimens found of equal complexity at lower strata. In other words, there is no evidence of intermediate specimens between the Pre-Cambrian and early Cambrian periods. This lack of evidence casts doubt on the efficacy of Darwin's theory of gradual mutation and natural selection. This lack of evidence further challenged Darwin's assumption that micro-evolution (survival of the species) could serve as a foundation for the plausibility of macro-evolution (arrival of the species).
In summary, the Cambrian period is marked by
This biological phenomenon of saltation and stasis is contrasted with Darwin's theory of gradualism in the figure below.
Notable Harvard evolutionary paleobiologist Stephen Jay Gould acknowledges that Darwin's theory of gradualism is inconsistent with the fossil record.
The modern theory of evolution does not require gradual change. In fact, the operation of Darwinian processes should yield exactly what we see in the fossil record. It is gradualism we should reject, not Darwinism." [REF-SJG01]
In 1972, he together with Niles Eldridge responded with a theory known as Punctuated Equilibrium [REF-SJG02]. This theory posits that Darwinian evolution occurred in the absence of gradualism. Gould and Eldridge postulate that gaps in the fossil recorded are best explained by an evolutionary process consisting of long periods of stasis punctuated by relatively short periods of rapid change.
The history of life is more adequately represented by a picture of 'punctuated equilibria' than by the notion of phyletic gradualism. The history of evolution is not one of stately unfolding, but a story of homeostatic equilibria, disturbed only rarely by rapid and episodic events of speciation." [REF-SJG03]
By speciation, Gould and Eldridge suggest that the emergence of new species is a result of rapid changes in environments of smaller populations of a species. In theory, the time for a mutation to become fixed is shorter in smaller populations, and changes in environment would precipitate change causing the species to adapt. This over time would generate novel phyla.
Unfortunately, there is no evidence of large pools of species in the Precambrian period necessary for the emergence of novel phyla using the selection mechanism espoused by Gould and Eldridge. Consequently, Punctuated Equilibrium has since fallen out of favor among evolutionary biologists. This leaves Neo-Darwinists once again with the burden of proof to substantiate evolutionary theories absent of gradualism.
It is fair to say that the Cambrian explosion poses a real enigma for Darwinian paleontologists. As science advances, they scramble to reconcile Darwinian theories with new findings. Clearly, the facts of modern science conflict with the so called "facts" of Darwinian evolution.
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