What exactly is the MISSING LINK that archeologists refer to in our history?

Question

I would also like to know if people believe that we evolved, were genetically altered, or magically put here by a GOD?

Answer 1

There are gaps in the fossil records. The "missing link" is a historical term to describe any of these gaps where the evolution of man and apes diverged . The gaps have been getting smaller, as more fossils are found in Man's evolutionary tree. Here is a list of what Man has been :

Australopithecus ramidus - 5 to 4 million years BCE
Australopithecus afarensis - 4 to 2.7 million years BCE
Australopithecus africanus - 3.0 to 2.0 million years BCE
Australopithecus robustus - 2.2 to 1.0 million years BCE
Homo habilis - 2.2 to 1.6 million years BCE
Homo erectus - 2 to 0.4 million years BCE
Homo sapiens - 400,000 to 200,000 years BCE
Homo sapiens neandertalensis - 200,000 to 30,000 years BCE
Homo sapiens sapiens - 130,000 years BCE to present

As scientists find more fossils, they are slotted into the evolutionary list, depending on the age of the fossil. This gives us a pattern of the evolution of Man which leads back to the common ancestor we had with the apes, somewhere between 5 and 10 million years ago. This is where our missing link belongs. The missing link could not be described as man-like, as A. ramidus could be, or ape-like, such as the chimpanzee or its predecessor. At that point in history, the paths of Man and Apes diverged.

Answer 2

What exactly was the step between man & ape... I believe in God, but the world is evolution, not magic, even though somebody or something must have created the first particle that started up everything!

Answer 3

it's kind of an "intermediate form"
for example Archaeopteryx it has features intermediate between those of living birds and ancient reptiles. these features help scientists reconstruct the evolutionary history of living animals and it also supports Darwin's theory of evolution

as for the second part of the question I believe that God put us on this earth, my reason for it is that science always changes. Scientists can find something new and change the ideas they had, rewrite scientific books, but my believes in God never change

Answer 4

The link between Man and Ape.
Evolutionary existence.

Answer 5

The Wikipedia article on transitional fossils is well-written and quite easy to understand.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Missing_link