Statements that question the theory of evolution

Several professional paleontologists and biologists have called the theory of evolution into question

Charles Darwin: ."(Since) innumerable transitional forms must have existed, why do we not find them imbedded in countless numbers in the crust of the earth? "Origin of Species", p. 162. "Why is not every geological formation and every stratum full of such intermediate links? Geology assuredly does not reveal any such finely graduated organic chain: and this perhaps is the most obvious and gravest objection which can be urged against my theory." "Origin of Species," p. 293.

Stephen J. Gould: "The extreme rarity of transitional forms in the fossil record persist as the trade secret of paleontology. The evolutionary trees that adorn our textbooks have data only at the tips and nodes of their branches; the rest is inference, however reasonable, not the evidence of fossils..We fancy ourselves as the only true students of life's history, yet to preserve our favored account of evolution by natural selection we view our data as so bad that we never see the very process we profess to study.""Evolution's Erratic Pace," Natural History, vol. 86 (May 1987), p. 14.

"Although Archaeopteryx is often proposed as a transitional form, "its fossils do not count." Punctuated Equilibria, 1977.

Stephen J. Gould & George Simpson, "New categories above the level of families appear in the record suddenly and are not lead up to by known, gradual, completely continuous transitional sequences." "Evolution's Erratic

Pace", Natural History, May 1977,at 12,12. John G. Fleagle: "the lack of transitional forms hasn't stopped the paleoanthropologists from selecting their favorite candidates for the anthropoid's predecessors."217 Gish quote of Elizabeth Culotta, Science 256:1516, 1992

Alec J. Kelso: "No fossils of transitional forms that link primates to tree shrews (insectivores), or to anything else.

Alec J., Kelso, R.D Martin,. and others "There is thus no evidence in the present world or in the world of the past to link primates to any other creatures. Right at the very start, then, an evolutionary origin of man is invalidated by actual empirical scientific evidence, The primates, as a group, stand completely isolated from all other creatures. From Gish "The Fossils Say No, 1995, p. 216

David Raup & Stephen Stanley: "Unfortunately, the origins of most higher categories are shrouded in mystery: commonly new higher categories appear abruptly in the fossil record without evidence of transitional forms."

Principals of Paleontology, 1971, p. 306. Boyce Rensberger: "The popularly told example of horse evolution, suggesting a gradual sequence of changes from four-toed, or fox-like creatures, living nearly 50 million years ago, to today's much larger one-toe horse, has long been known to be wrong. Instead of gradual change, fossils of each intermediate species appear fully distinct, persist unchanged, and then become extinct. Transitional forms are unknown." "Ideas on evolution Going Through a Revolution among Scientists," Houston chronicle, 5 Nov. 1980, sec. 4, p. 15.
 

Lucy. An artist's impression.

Niles Eldridge: "...there are all sorts of gaps: absence of gradationally intermediate 'transitional forms' between species, but also between larger groups-between, say, families of carnivores, or the orders of mammals. In fact the higher up the Linnaean hierarchy you look, the fewer transitional forms there seem to be." "Monkey Business," p. 65.

Patricia G. Gensel: "We still lack any precise information concerning the presumed aquatic ancestors from which land plants evolved, and the search for evidence of these precursors and of probable transitional stages continues." "The Evolutions of Early Land Plants," American Scientist, Vol. 75, Sept./Oct. 1987, p. 480.

Frank M. Carpenter, "There is, however, no fossil evidence bearing on the question of insect origin; the oldest insects known show no transition to other arthropods." "Fossil Insects," 1952, p. 18.

Henry N. Andrews: "The spore bearing organs of these Permian mosses have not been found, so that more precise comparisons with living forms are not possible. Their importance lies in the fact that they are well-preserved, they are unquestionably mosses, and sufficiently similar to modern ones in their vegetative organization as to suggest no major chnages in moss evolution since that time." "Studies in Paleontology," 1961, p. 401.

Neal Gillespie: "..."species appeared full-blown suddenly, endured unchanged, and became extinct without leaving descendants". Charles Darwin and the Problem of Creation 7, (1979) (U. of Chicago Press). p. 26.

George Simpson: (noted Harvard paleontologist) "The regular absence of transitional forms is an almost universal phenomenon...all orders of classes of animals (and) analogous categories of plants." The Sudden Appearance of Higher Categories, in Evolution of Life. 149 (S. Tax ed. 1960)

Also as (paleontologist Am. Museum of Nat. History) "As it became more and more evident that the great gaps remained despite wonderful progress in finding the members of lower transitional groups and progressive lines, it was no longer satisfactory to impute this absence of objective data entirely to chance. The failure of Paleontology to produce such evidence was so keenly felt that a few disillusioned naturalists even decided that the theory of organic evolution, or general organic continuity of descent was wrong, after all.". "Tempo and Mode of Evolution" (1944), p 115,

Barbara Stahl: "It is not difficult to imagine how feathers, once evolved, assumed additional functions, but how they arose initially, presumably from reptilian scales, defies analysis." "The problem has been set aside, not for lack of interest, but for lack of evidence. No fossil structure transitional between scale and feather is known, and recent investigators are unwilling to found a theory on pure speculation." "It seems, from the complex structure of feathers, that their evolution from reptilian scales would have required an immense period of time and involved a series of intermediate structures. So far, the fossil record does not bear out that supposition." .." "Vertebrate History: Problems in Evolution", McGraw-Hill, N. Y., 1974, p.349-350.

James W. Valentine & Douglas H. Erwin (Valentine is at the U. of Cal. at Santa Barbara, and Erwin at Michigan State U.)"Interpreting Great Developmental Experiments: The Fossil Record," "If ever we were to expect to find ancestors to or intermediates between higher taxa, it would be in the rocks of late Precambrian to Ordovician times, when the bulk of the world's higher animal taxa evolved. Yet transitional alliances are unknown or unconfirmed for any of the phyla or classes appearing then...We conclude that the probability that species selection is a general solution to the origin of higher taxa is not great, and that neither of the contending theories of evolutionary change at the species level, phyletic gradualism or punctuated equilibrium, seem applicable to the origin of new body plans." in "Development as an Evolutionary Process," N. Y., 1987, pp. 84-86.

Ann Gibbons, John Ruben (Lung Structure and Ventilation in Therapod Dinosaurs and Early Birds," Science, Vol. 278, 14 Nov. 1997, pp. 1267-1270) ".. argues that a transition from a crocodilian to a bird lung would be impossible, because the transitional animal would have a life-threatening hernia or a hole in its diaphragm." "Lung Fossils Suggest Dinos Breathed in Cold Blood," Science, Vol. 278, 14 Nov. 1997, p. 1230.

Ernest Lutz: "There is neither evidence of a lineage from reptiles to Archaeopteryx nor from it to any living birds. Further, and also most importantly, natural selection is inadequate as a possible mechanism to explain the descent of Archaeopteryx. In view of the evidence science has oversold the case of Archaeopteryx as a transitional form." "A Review of Claims About Archaeopteryx in the Light of the Evidence," Creation Research Soc. Quarterly, June 1995, p. 18.

Newsweek, Nov. 1980: "In the fossil record missing links are the rule; the story of life is as disjointed as a newsreel, in which species succeed one another as abruptly as Balkan prime ministers. The more scientists have searched for the transitional forms between species, the more they have been frustrated." "Is Man a Subtle Accident?" Newsweek, 3 November, 1980, p. 95.

Colin Patterson: "..."Yet Gould and the American Museum people are hard to contradict when they say there are no transitional fossils... You say I should at least 'show a photo of the fossil from which each type of organism was derived.' I will lay it on the line - there is not one such fossil for which one could make a watertight argument." In letter to Luther Sunderland, April 10, 1979. Cited in: Sunderland, Luther D., Darwin's Enigma: Fossils and Other Problems (El Cajon, CA: Master Books, 1988), p. 89.

Alfred S. Romer: "The origin of the rodents is obscure. When they first appear, in the genus Paramys, we are already dealing with a typical if rather primitive true rodent with the definitive ordinal characters well developed. Presumably of course they had arisen from some basal, insectivorous, placental stock, but no transitional forms are known." "Vertebrate Paleontology," 1966.

Lenski's experiment is a disaster for the theory of evolution

This scientific experiment was meant to prove that evolution was taking place. In the end, it proves the exact opposite.

https://www.nsf.gov/discoveries/disc_summ.jsp?cntn_id=119814&org=NSF&from=news

The experiment was designed to ask about the repeatability of evolution. "If we look at the tension between the randomness of mutation and the predictability of natural selection, how does evolution play out when you put the two together?" Lenski says. "That's really what this long-term experiment has been all about. Over the course of these decades, we've seen all kinds of interesting phenomena."

The long-term evolution experiment (LTEE) with Escherichia coli was started in Feb 24th 1988 with the founding of 12 populations from the same clone.

Mutator genomes decay, despite sustained fitness gains, in a long-term experiment with bacteria

https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.1705887114

"However, mutation rates can change dramatically over time, and experiments with hypermutable bacteria show that their genomes rapidly decay when propagated under the near absence of selection. Whether selection can prevent this decay is unclear. Here, we document the rapid genome decay of hypermutable bacteria even during tens of thousands of generations of sustained adaptation to a laboratory environment. These findings suggest the need to reexamine current ideas about the evolution of bacterial genomes."

Lenski's long term experiment failed to prove evolution

Extinction

https://evolutionnews.org/2020/06/citrate-death-spiral/

"For example, the citrate mutant had accumulated many of the same beneficial-but-degradative mutations that had previously spread through the population — the new mutation did not, could not, restore them. And later work showed that several more broken genes had been selected in the mutant, apparently to help it metabolize citrate more efficiently.

A Sick Puppy

The new paper now reports on 2,500 generations of further evolution of the citrate mutant, in nutrient media that contains either citrate alone or citrate plus glucose (as for earlier generations). As always with the Lenski lab, the research is well and thoroughly done. But the resulting E. coli is one sick puppy. Inside the paper they report that “The spectrum of mutations identified in evolved clones was dominated by structural variation, including insertions, deletions, and mobile element transpositions.” All of those are exceedingly likely to break or degrade genes. Dozens more genes were lost. The citrate mutant tossed genetic information with mindless abandon for short term advantage.

In a particularly telling result, the authors “serendipitously discovered evidence of substantial cell death in cultures of a Cit+ clone sampled from … the LTEE at 50,000 generations.” In other words, those initial random “beneficial” citrate mutations that had been seized on by natural selection tens of thousands of generations earlier had led to a death spiral. The death rate of the ancestor of the LTEE was ~10 percent; after 33,000 generations it was ~30 percent; after 50,000, ~40 percent. For the newer set of experiments, the death rate varied for different strains of cells in different media, but exceeded 50 percent for some cell lines in a citrate-only environment. Indeed, the authors identified a number of mutations — again, almost certainly degradative ones — in genes for fatty acid metabolism that, they write with admirable detachment, “suggest adaptation to scavenging on dead and dying cells.”

The degraded E. coli was eating its dead."

Adaptation without novel information (the citrate utilization)

https://journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/JB.00831-15

"We conclude that the rarity of the LTEE mutant was an artifact of the experimental conditions and not a unique evolutionary event. No new genetic information (novel gene function) evolved."

Summary and conclusions:

• During ~75,000 generations of bacterial life, there has been no evolution.
• In these last 34 years the experiment has evidenced a huge number of loss of function mutations, extinction and death.
• Mutator genomes decay rapidly despite sustained fitness gain.
• Adaptation (the citrate utilization) was based on reorganization of existing information.
• No new genetic information (novel gene function) has evolved.
• As a longest scientific experiment meant to prove that evolution is taking place, this experiment is a catastrophe for the theory of evolution. It proves the exact opposite: the more adaptation, the more genetic degradation.

Endogenous retroviruses are no proof of evolution

ERVs support Intelligent Design and Creation

Endogenous Retroviruses Protect Us from Viral Infections

https://journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/JVI.02299-20

Excerpts: "Long disregarded as junk DNA or genomic dark matter, endogenous retroviruses (ERVs) have turned out to represent important components of the antiviral immune response. These remnants of once-infectious retroviruses not only regulate cellular immune activation, but may even directly target invading viral pathogens. In this Gem, we summarize mechanisms by which retroviral fossils protect us from viral infections. One focus will be on recent advances in the role of ERVs as regulators of antiviral gene expression."

• ERV-derived nucleic acids trigger innate sensing cascades. 
• ERV-derived lncrnas regulate antiviral immune responses.
• Endogenous retroviral proteins modulate immune activation.
• Endogenous retroviral envelope proteins block virus entry receptors.
• ERV proteins complement virions in a dominant negative manner.
• ERV proteins interfere with incoming viral particles.
• Repetitive ERV elements increase plasticity of immunity genes.
• ERV-Derived promoters and enhancers regulate antiviral gene expression.

Cells contain an in-built reverse trancriptase mechanism, by which they are able to store viral RNA sequences by converting them into DNA.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/06/210611174037.htm

Excerpt: "Cells contain machinery that duplicates DNA into a new set that goes into a newly formed cell. That same class of machines, called polymerases, also build RNA messages, which are like notes copied from the central DNA repository of recipes, so they can be read more efficiently into proteins. But polymerases were thought to only work in one direction DNA into DNA or RNA. This prevents RNA messages from being rewritten back into the master recipe book of genomic DNA. Now, Thomas Jefferson University researchers provide evidence that RNA segments can be written back into DNA via a polymerase called theta, which could have wide implications affecting many fields of biology.
"This work opens the door to many other studies that will help us understand the significance of polymerases that can write RNA messages into DNA," says Richard Pomerantz, PhD, associate professor of biochemistry and molecular biology at Thomas Jefferson University. "That polymerase theta can do this with high efficiency, raises many questions." For example, this finding suggests that RNA messages can be used as templates for repairing or re-writing genomic DNA...."Our research suggests that polymerase theta's main function is to act as a reverse transcriptase," says Dr. Pomerantz."

Summary and conclusions:

• So called endogenous retroviruses are no genomic junk. There is no junk-DNA.
• ERV derived molecules and proteins play a significant role for the innate immune system.
• Endogenous Retroviruses Protect Us from Viral Infections
• The cell contains designed mechanisms by which it is able to store (record) viral RNA sequences.
• Endogenous retroviruses support Intelligent Design and Creation.