What are transitional fossils?

Question

What are transitional fossils?

Answer 1

Fossils that show intermediate characteristics are generally called transitional fossils. Transitional fossils are fossils that have characteristics that are intermediate in nature to organisms that existed both prior to it and after it. As such, transitional fossils are strongly suggestive of evolution.

There are many examples of transitional fossils in the fossil record. Examples include large-scale transitions such as from reptiles to birds (like the controversial archaeopteryx) and from reptiles to mammals, as well as more detailed transitions, such as those among the many hominids or the development of horses. The fact that, despite the rarity of fossilization, we have a wealth of transitional fossil data and that the fossil data generally conforms to the phylogenetic tree is strongly supportive of the idea of evolution

Answer 2

A transitional fossil is the fossil remains of a creature that exhibits certain primitive (or basal) traits in comparison with its more derived descendants. "Missing link" is a popular term used for transitional forms. According to modern evolutionary theory, all populations of organisms are in transition. Therefore, a "transitional form" is a human construct that vividly represents a particular evolutionary stage, as recognized in hindsight.

When Charles Darwin's The Origin of Species was first published, the fossil record was poorly known, and the claim that there was a lack of transitional fossils was perfectly reasonable; indeed, Darwin stressed in his work that this lack was the most formidable obstacle to his theory. However, the discovery of Archaeopteryx only two years later was seen as a triumph for Darwin's theory of common descent. Gaps remain in the fossil record, however; and while some argue that this is a problem for evolutionary theory, most scientists accept that the rarity of fossils means that many extinct animals will always remain unknown. (See fossil.)

Though the evolution of the horse and its relatives, as Othniel Charles Marsh assembled surviving fossils in his reconstruction of the evolution of horses in the form of a single, consistently developing lineage with many "transitional" types, is often cited as a family tree with a number of clear transitional fossils, modern cladistics gives a different, multi-stemmed shrublike picture, with many dead ends: see evolution of the horse. Other specimens cited as transitional forms include the "walking whale" Ambulocetus, the recently-discovered lobe-finned fish Tiktaalik, with many tetrapod characteristics, and various hominids considered to be proto-humans.

You could get more information from the link below...

Answer 3

A transitional fossil is the fossil remains of a creature that exhibits certain primitive (or basal) traits in comparison with its more derived descendants. "Missing link" is a popular term used for transitional forms. According to modern evolutionary theory, all populations of organisms are in transition. Therefore, a "transitional form" is a human construct that vividly represents a particular evolutionary stage, as recognized in hindsight.

Answer 4

Fossilized creatures from transitional times between dinosaur periods, I believe.

Answer 5

I cannot put it better than Geo06 and I am indebted to her for supplying an interesting link to another website.
An absolute classic has been discovered recently, Tiktaalik,( please see the link below) a creature that represents the transitional stage between fishes and amphibians, i.e. it displays some fish like features e.g. gills,but also some amphibian features e.g.primative legs , it could probably crawl up onto land.

I like to call such fossils "Creationist's worst nightmares!" although I suppose they would try and explain it with some half-baked pseudoscience like they try to do with such creatures as Archaeopteryx.

Answer 6

Well, science doesn't really use that term much. In the popular jargon, they are fossils that show the "in between" of one species evolving into another. Dinosaurs with feathers. Snakes with little stubby legs.

Answer 7

They are fossils that fall in between the Mesozoic, Cretaceous, and Jurrasic periods. They are the links between them.