Why doesn't the fossil record present a problem in the origin of man?

Question

http://www.parentcompany.com/jesus_christ_creator/jcc-3.htm

What would dispute the discussion on this page of the fossil record??

I am having to do this for class!!!

Answer 1

You really should learn about science from scientists, not a religious book.

The fossil record doesn't present a problem for scientists...but it presents a problem for fundie creationists.

Answer 2

-Sandal Prints With Trilobites in the Cambrian Period-

So, the first problem I noticed in the article was the claim that a sandal print had been found in a sediment layer, along with several, small, trilobite fossils. The scientist was right to say that the 'print' was simply a larger trilobite fossil, as you can clearly see in the image below, a large trilobite *does* look deceptively like a sandal print, but a close look will easily show what it really is is.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/f/fc/LeggedTrilobite.jpg/270px-LeggedTrilobite.jpg

More coming as I study the article more in depth.

Also, the entire top of the article is basically stating that the author believes that everything written in the Bible is to be taken as historical fact. Since I presumed this before even starting, I'll ignore the top portion and focus on the 'Fossil Record' section.

-More on the Cambrian Explosion-

Moving right along. The "Cambrian Explosion" discussed in the article occurred approximately 540 million years ago, and the majority of fossils commonly found from this period are in fact trilobite fossils. Unfortunately, the article is- intentionally, it would seem- misleading with its claim that "A trilobite is much farther up that scale, yet we have no record of evolutionary development before it", as a great many fossils have been found which predate the Cambrian era by as much as 100-500 million years. Moving right along, I say.

Also of note is the fact that scientists are currently not sure whether the 'explosion' really existed. As it might well have been a sort of 'unveiling' of the development occurring during the Proterozoic era.

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

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

http://www.talkorigins.org/indexcc/CC/CC300.html

http://www.talkorigins.org/indexcc/CC/CC301.html

-Humans and Dinosaurs Together?-

The next claim, that dinosaurs and humans once walked together, is easy to refute, as it simply isn't true at all. No human footprints have ever been discovered next to those of a dinosaur. The supposed footprints found in Texas were later identified as simply more dinosaur prints.

-Neanderthals are basically diseased humans-

Completely not true at all. I don't know why the article failed to mention the fact that several specimens of Homo Neanderthals have been found.

Of course, it is also known that Neanderthals *were*, in fact, quite similar to modern humans. However, there were many characteristics, such as heavy brow ridges, a long low skull, a robust skeleton, and others, that prove that Neanderthals (or Neandertals, depending on who you talk to) were indeed quite different from Homo Sapiens Sapiens.

http://www.talkorigins.org/faqs/homs/a_neands.html

Of course, the rest of the arguments all have similar explanations. I apologize for not having the time to go through them all for you, but I hope this helped (it was certainly enjoyable to research).

An excellent source of information is talkorigins.org
As you can see I used it for a great deal of my arguments.

Answer 3

I don't click on unknown URL links but can assure you there are no problems with the fossil records. They become more complete every year... that is the power of science and the weakness of Bible based religions which are stuck with one incomplete, unchanging book.

Answer 4

It doesn't present a problem, to anyone except die hard Christians. The reason it presents a problem with them is it upsets their apple cart. But the truth is we have all been conclusively proved to have common ancestors with the great apes. Your cousin is a chimp like it or not. His DNA is 98.5 % exactly the same as yours. live with it. It's not so bad. After all the first successful astronaut was a chimp.

Answer 5

The text is typical creationist propaganda.They use the science studies and mix them in an incorrect way with the Bible verses. I can get to a similar conclusion with the book of Don Quixote. Why not?

Answer 6

there is no problem because it makes sense, and there is more than enough evidence to suggest that we, like all animals, descended from different species over billions of years. that page has no scientific evidence to prove otherwise.

Answer 7

i cannot despute your heading
because fossils are only a tiny bit of the real problem ,
the inter mediate ''improvements '' didnt survive?
yet thier ancestoral ''in perfect'' did?

Answer 8

Did you eat a lot of paint chips as a kid?

http://exchristian.net/exchristian/2007/01/take-christian-quiz.html

Answer 9

the fossil record .. like the bible .. can be interpreted anyway someone wants to really ... its not proof of any one theory imo ...

Answer 10

Why would you argue with total strangers about your belief system?