National Geographic's headline reads "Odd Fish Find Contradicts Intelligent-Design Argument." That's because evolutionary theory predicted these existence of these transitional flatfish, whereas intelligent design simply postulates "God did it" and stops asking questions.
The discovery of a missing link in the evolution of bizarre flatfishes-each of which has both eyes on the same side of its head-could give intelligent design advocates a sinking feeling.
CT scans of 50-million-year-old fossils have revealed an intermediate species between primitive flatfishes (with eyes on both sides of their heads) and the modern, lopsided versions, which include sole, flounder, and halibut.
So the change happened gradually, in a way consistent with evolution via natural selection-not suddenly, as researchers once had little choice but to believe, the authors of the new study say.
CT scans of 50-million-year-old fossils have revealed an intermediate species between primitive flatfishes (with eyes on both sides of their heads) and the modern, lopsided versions, which include sole, flounder, and halibut.
So the change happened gradually, in a way consistent with evolution via natural selection-not suddenly, as researchers once had little choice but to believe, the authors of the new study say.
The article also describes the process of science, the sheer hard work that research requires, and the creationists' predictable response - "Fish have always been fish" - made without having done any such work themselves. REAL scientists understand the importance of asking questions and doing the hard work to find the answers.
posted by Cheryl Shepherd-Adams
