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| The Cambrian Explosion | |
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| Tweet Topic Started: Sep 29 2009, 04:53 AM (976 Views) | |
| Mike | Sep 29 2009, 04:53 AM Post #1 |
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Cambrian explosion From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jump to: navigation, search This article is move-protected due to vandalism. The Cambrian explosion or Cambrian radiation was the seemingly rapid appearance of most major groups of complex animals around 530 million years ago, as evidenced by the fossil record.[1][2] This was accompanied by a major diversification of other organisms, including animals, phytoplankton, and calcimicrobes.[3] Before about 580 million years ago, most organisms were simple, composed of individual cells occasionally organized into colonies. Over the following 70 or 80 million years the rate of evolution accelerated by an order of magnitude (as defined in terms of the extinction and origination rate of species[4]) and the diversity of life began to resemble today’s.[5] The Cambrian explosion has generated extensive scientific debate. The seemingly rapid appearance of fossils in the “Primordial Strata” was noted as early as the mid 19th century,[6] and Charles Darwin saw it as one of the main objections that could be made against his theory of evolution by natural selection.[7] The long-running puzzlement about the appearance of the Cambrian fauna, seemingly abruptly and from nowhere, centers on three key points: whether there really was a mass diversification of complex organisms over a relatively short period of time during the early Cambrian; what might have caused such rapid change; and what it would imply about the origin and evolution of animals. Interpretation is difficult due to a limited supply of evidence, based mainly on an incomplete fossil record and chemical signatures left in Cambrian rocks. __________________________________________________________ This throws a monkey wrench into Darwin's theories. |
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| Brewster | Sep 29 2009, 06:43 AM Post #2 |
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Not any more, Mike. For a long time, it was a puzzle, especially in Darwin's time, but recent discoveries have pushed the expansion of multi-celled species back many millions of years. While there still looks like a period of rapid evolution during the Cambrian era, it is no longer a major explosion, just a big bump. From the same Wiki article you quote:
from PBS Evolution:
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| ngc1514 | Sep 29 2009, 10:27 PM Post #3 |
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You need to understand that Darwin was working from a purely descriptive form of biology; how things looked as opposed to today's how things work. It would be like taking Newton - arguably the brightest man who ever lived and left a record - sitting him down in front of a television set and asking him for a complete description of what it is and how it works. He could describe what he saw, but how it worked down to component level would be impossible. If you showed him televisions, radios and cell phones, he might be able to figure out that they are all working via the same general principle, but explain how they work electronically? Not a chance. The science that would allow him to do that was still centuries away. Every time someone writes something like, "and Charles Darwin saw it as one of the main objections that could be made against his theory of evolution by natural selection." he's committing the same intellectual sin. Darwinian evolution is a descriptive theory just as Newton's theory of gravity is descriptive. They both provide an accurate representation of the world and universe around us, but offer no insight into just HOW evolution or gravity works. Newton knew "something" had to mediate gravity, but he had no idea what it might be (and we're still arguing it out - is gravity purely the geometry of space-time or mediated by particles called gravitons?) just as Darwin knew "something" had to be passed from generation to generation with a high degree of accuracy but still subject to change. We now know that that "something" is DNA. Talking about what Darwin saw as problems with his theory without referring to modern research is like talking about Newtonian gravity without reading Kip Thorne and John Wheeler's monumental text "Gravitation." Darwin's "On the Origin of Species" was not the last word on evolution, just the first. |
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| Mike | Sep 30 2009, 01:16 AM Post #4 |
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I read a lot of theories there Brewster, but the fact remains, there was an explosion during that time frame, and the scientists lefts scratching their heads have only theories..no real proof to back their assertions. We know there was an explosion, now show me the proof that makes it just a bump. |
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| ngc1514 | Sep 30 2009, 01:58 AM Post #5 |
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The proof is in the fossil record, Mike. The Burgess Shales in Canada provided a tiny window on the Cambrian Explosion and, as the view through any tiny window (imagine the world view of the Catholic Church, for instance, if the only tiny window showed priests caught flagrante delicto.) Other, similar fine grain shales have turned up in other parts of the world with fossils from eras both before and after the Cambian explosion. There is also evidence that the big book on the Shales, Stephen Jay Gould's Wonderful Life was wrong in the identification of many fossil species. Yes, even science makes mistakes. Many of the supposedly new species were actually body parts of previously known animals. You need to understand that this is not like mining fossil dinosaurs out of rock with jack hammers and drills. These were very small animals whose fossil is a thin stain of matter crushed between layers of rock.
-- Gould, page 89 I'm going to throw your final line back at you: "We know there was an explosion." Now show me the proof. Also, it would be interesting to know how short a time span your explosion encompassed. From your article posted above: "Over the following 70 or 80 million years" - not exactly a big bang, is it? Man evolved from tiny primitive mammals existing at the end of the Age of Reptiles in a much shorter span. 10-1: Neatened up a bit to correct spelling and BBCode errors. That'll teach me to read after posting! Edited by ngc1514, Oct 1 2009, 09:09 PM.
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| Mike | Oct 9 2009, 12:20 AM Post #6 |
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The fossil records are evidence of God's continuing creation..at his pace not ours. |
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| ngc1514 | Oct 9 2009, 12:44 AM Post #7 |
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So.. you seem to be saying that evolution and creation are the same thing? If one can happen without god while the other requires god, Occam's Razor would indicate god is an unnecessary entity. |
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| Mike | Oct 9 2009, 02:18 AM Post #8 |
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What I'm saying is that what is referred to as evolution is in reality a tool that God uses in his continuing creation. You find evidence of His work in the fossil records. |
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| ngc1514 | Oct 9 2009, 02:30 AM Post #9 |
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Sorry, Mike. Never seen any evidence of anything other than what we expect with evolution in the fossil record. Perhaps you can offer some clear, unambiguous evidence showing god at work. |
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| Mike | Oct 9 2009, 04:42 AM Post #10 |
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The evidence is all around us NG. That's about all I can offer up. Now concerning the evolution process, I can't deny or confirm what you said as there are quite a few holes left un-discovered. |
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