In The Origin of Species, Charles Darwin acknowledged that the fossil record presented difficulties for his theory. And we should be able to see some species changing over time, forming lineages showing ‘descent with modification’ (adaptation).” In particular, “later species should have traits that make them look like the descendants of earlier ones.” 5 The deepest (and oldest) layers of rock would contain the fossils of more primitive species, and some fossils should become more complex as the layers of rock become younger, with organisms resembling present-day species found in the most recent layers. “We should be able,” he writes, “to find some evidence for evolutionary change in the fossil record. FossilsĬoyne turns first to the fossil record. Coyne devotes the remainder of his book to providing evidence for them. But Darwin’s claim that all species are modified descendants of a common ancestor, and Coyne’s claim that DNA mutations and natural selection have produced those modifications, are not so undeniably true. Of course, “evolution” is undeniably true if it means simply that existing species can change in minor ways over time, or that many species living today did not exist in the past. These include “patterns of species distribution on the earth’s surface, peculiarities of how organisms develop from embryos, and the existence of vestigial features that are of no apparent use.” Coyne concludes his introduction with the bold statement that “all the evidence - both old and new - leads ineluctably to the conclusion that evolution is true.” 4 And we should be able to find new species forming in the wild.” Furthermore, “we should be able to find examples of species that link together major groups suspected to have common ancestry, like birds with reptiles and fish with amphibians.” Finally, there are facts that “make sense only in light of the theory of evolution” but do not make sense in the light of creation or design. If Darwinian theory were true, “we should be able to find some cases of speciation in the fossil record, with one line of descent dividing into two or more.
Yet we have many… How does this diversity arise from one ancestral form?” It arises because of “splitting, or, more accurately, speciation,” which “simply means the evolution of different groups that can’t interbreed.” 3 The species of animals and plants living today weren’t around in the past, but are descended from those that lived earlier.” 2Īccording to Coyne, however, “if evolution meant only gradual genetic change within a species, we’d have only one species today - a single highly evolved descendant of the first species.
That is, over many generations a species can evolve into something quite different, and those differences are based on changes in the DNA, which originate as mutations. In Why Evolution is True, he summarizes Darwinism - the modern theory of evolution - as follows: “Life on earth evolved gradually beginning with one primitive species - perhaps a self-replicating molecule - that lived more than 3.5 billion years ago it then branched out over time, throwing off many new and diverse species and the mechanism for most (but not all) of evolutionary change is natural selection.” 1Ĭoyne further explains that evolution “simply means that a species undergoes genetic change over time. Coyne is a professor in the Department of Ecology and Evolution at The University of Chicago. Why Darwinism Is False Jonathan Wells Intelligent Design Share Facebook Twitter Print arroba Email