Paul Garner ja Tetrapods (kurkkaus eteenpäin)

Jenny Clack Gaining Ground: The Origin and Evolution of Tetrapods Bloomngton 2002

Ei ole tarkoitus lähteä Englannin Rivieralta vielä mihinkään.

Mutta kunnon merenkulkijoina katselemme taivaan merkkejä. Kreationistisia kalastajia ajatellen katselin pilviä joita nousee Creation Ministries International suunnalta, että mites siellä?

Biologi Paul Garner kirjoittaa minusta varsin asiallisesti ja myöntää, että kaloja koskeva kreationistinen tiede on vielä alkuaskelissaan. Huomaa tuo 'early' sana otsikkossaan lainausmerkeissä - Luojan todistaja ei toki voi puhua "varhaisista todisteista" asettamatta niiden ikää kyseenalaiseksi - näissä puitteissa näet (6k) vaikka hän tuntuu pärjäävän ihan hyvin "tavanomaisten ajoitusten" parissakin.

Tekstissä esiintyvät KALAn tutkimukseen liittyvät termit tulevat reissullamme kyllä tutuiksi, mutta tuonne asti on vielä matkaa! Halutessasi löydät johdantoa niihin esimerkiksi blogissani Devonian life and Evolution.

Sääennustus lupaa seesteistä ja aurinkoista purjehdusilmaa, vaikka paikoin ehkä voi ukkoskuuroja tulla.

The fossil record of ‘early’ tetrapods: evidence of a major evolutionary transition?

Conclusion

Recent discoveries have undoubtedly advanced our knowledge of Devonian tetrapods and future creationist discussions of tetrapod origins must take this into account. It is no longer sufficient for creationists to contrast Eusthenopteron with Ichthyostega and point to the large morphological gap between them. We need to have more to say. Nevertheless, the presumed transition from fish to tetrapods remains contentious. The data and their interpretation are a source of lively debate and ongoing controversy:

‘In the not-too-distant past, there was almost no fossil material, and ideas were based largely on informed guesswork. Speculation was intense, and as is often the case, in inverse proportion to the amount of data. To be truthful, there is still not much real data, so that speculation is still active, and whatever is concluded today may be overturned by the discovery of a new fossil tomorrow. That in some sense is to be hoped for, because only in that way can guesses be falsified and tested as scientific hypotheses.

A robust rationale for concluding that the Upper Devonian tetrapods evolved from a fish ancestor, or that they gave rise to Carboniferous tetrapod lineages, is lacking. It is hoped that this paper may stimulate creationists to develop a fuller understanding of these remarkable creatures and their ecological and geological context.

Paul Garner has a B.Sc. (Hons) in Geology and Biology and is a Fellow of the Geological Society of London. He works full-time as a speaker and researcher with Biblical Creation Ministries in the UK. He is also a Committee Member of the Biblical Creation Society, co-editor of the BCS journal,Origins, and is on the Board of The Genesis Agendum, a charitable company promoting church and public awareness of the substantial historical and scientific evidence supporting the biblical record.

CMI

Niin että kyllä kreationisteillakin on arsenaalia osallistua kalareissuun, ei tarvitse pelätä.