Richard Dawkins describes Tik-tik in his his latest book, The Greatest Show on Earth, as “the perfect missing link—perfect, because it almost exactly splits the difference between fish and amphibian, and perfect because it is missing no longer.” But, sadly, Tiktaalik is now consigned to the scrap heap because tetrapod footprints have been discovered in Poland that are 18 million years earlier (all within the evolutionary story line, of course). That upsetting find was published in Nature and picked up on all the science-news channels early January.
I wrote an article about the implications of the find for creation.com, discussing some of the options that the evolutionists could be exploring to rewrite their story. But there is one option that I did not mention—ignore it. I wonder if that is what is happening on Wiki. When I looked at their their entry for Tiktaalik today there was no mention of the Nature paper by Niedzwiedzki et al. or of any of the surprised comments of paleontologists about the need to dump their whole transitional scheme. It hit the news over ten days but no-one would know from Wiki yet that poor old Tik-tik is an evolutionary has-been.
22 January 2010:
I edited Wiki myself today. See Wikipedia silent on Tiktaalik no longer.
Give me a break
It is still a transition species.
Polar bears evolved out of a brown bear population but we still have brown bears. Animals evolve out of populations rather than all members of a species evolving into a new species. Ancestors don’t have to go extinct.
Tas Walker
Give me a break,
Yes, the polar bears demonstrate natural selection. No problem! YECs accept natural selection. These processes are not going to put wings and feathers onto a lizard and change it into a a bird (See Don’t fall for the bait and switch on Creation.com).
The argument for Tiktaalik being such an ideal transition was based on it being the right “age” between other intermediates of the “right age”. The discovery of the footprints in Poland messes up that neat scheme. So the story has to change, as you say. Evolution is a worldview that is used to explain the evidence by means of imaginative stories. There are other worldviews.
Give me a break
Having recently reviewed the report on the Polish foot prints I am at a loss to see your ‘argument’. Amphibians, living and extinct cannot survuve in a marine environment. As the ‘foot prints’ are found on an ocean shore type environment, the organism clearly cannot be related to modern amphibians. Ergo, while it is an fascinating find, it is utterly irrelevant to amphibian evolution. Tiktaalik is a genuine transition form, just like all of the others.
Creationism is dead, give it up.
Tas Walker
Give me a break,
The experts in the field said it was a problem. Did you read what they said as quoted in my report?
Elijah
Lots of luck keeping it in Wicked Pedia (the bad footprints of man). Bet it’s edited out already, if not by someone who reads here. debates are like street gangs out to kill. They vandalize like people who create computer viruses. As for evolution. Take the evidence i presented that carbon 14 proves 6 days of 7000 years, and create animals for these 42,000 years before 4025bc Adam. Does it matter whether animals evolved or not since they do not have God’s mind like we do. Isn’t the main point, not animal sin, but human sin. And is not the main point not animals stupidly attempting to cross breed by having sex, but humans who dare to have no moral and try to breed with animals? And is this not more an issue of whether angels who materialize should be breeding or not? I see the issue of claiming humans evolved from animals, it is wrong, not true, and morally destructive. But i dont see the issue of animals evolving form animals. God has taught animals how to retain everlasting life… it is a religious claim that animlas didnt eat animals, it is not a biblical fact. No where does it say that the human mind and heart that saw it wrong to eat animals did not watch animals eat animals during 1656 years of existence (4025-2370bc). The scripture of lamb laying with wolf refers not to animals to people who become christian. Quit following fantasies, Pangaea formed under water and split while under water, and also spread during its creation of land under water for 3 days (21,000 years) and above water for 4 days (28,000 years); 4th day being a span when land rose and sunk many times to build up what would stay above ocean surface with a total density on the mantle that is less density than ocean basins. The volume of water weight keeps the land masses up, if they were too much less before the Flood, then the earth would be one global ocean as it was day 1 and 2 and 3. Moses created 6 periods to divide the creation because the Marduk calendar from Flood to Marduk temple was divided into 6 days in which the 7th was 52 years (2060-2009bc) establishing that Mars orbit matched the post-Flood pattern of 360-day calendar. Abram was 9 when the Marduk calendar was created. And no this was not the death of Nimrod who lived another 239 years after to 500 and is amrked by July 10 Tamuz and firebird Venus(Phoenix Quetzalcoatl of 2256am).
greggy
truth is proved by it’s children.
reading about the debate of creation and evolution is so much fun. evolutionists have most scientists behind them, and believers in creation have common sense and basic logic behind them. again, it’s all about the interpretation of evidence. logic cannot change. numbers, dates,and financial grants do change with time. there is a lot at stake for the winner. it’s like the superbowl of the truth of life.