Dr. Jeffrey Schwartz, a respected anthropologist from the University of Pittsburgh, still believes in evolution, but his views on Darwinism have evolved over the years, due to a lack of evidence in the fossil record.

In an interview with the Pittsburgh Post Gazette, Schwartz no longer believes in “gradualism.” According to the theory of evolution proposed by Charles Darwin, species evolved gradually over millions of years through minute incremental changes.

Schwartz argues that if these minute changes actually took place, evolutionists would find thousands examples of these species at different stages in their evolutionary development. Instead the fossil record is starkly quiet with huge gaps in the fossil record.

Darwin claimed that the absence of these missing links was simply a matter of bad luck. Schwartz disagrees – based on the evidence – the lack of transitional fossils says the transitions never existed in the first place.

Schwartz adds that some organs, such as the eye, are so complicated that the sheer number of changes required for its evolution “defies logic.”

He also takes a shot at another foundation stone of evolution – natural selection. Natural selection says that as the climate or environment changed species evolved to better adapt to the changing conditions.

Schwartz does not believe that’s true and points to the example of the mongoose lemurs living on two islands off the African coast.

On the island of Madagascar, these lemurs stay on the ground, are active during the day and eat leaves and fruit.

But on the island of Comoros the same species of lemur live in the trees, are active at night and hang from their hind legs to suck nectar out of flowers.

“These lemurs have the same teeth, the same feet, the same eyes, but if the environment changes they change their activities and their diet, not their anatomy,” said Schwartz.

Instead Schwartz proposes massive genetic alterations that created new features in species almost over night. He is not alone in this thinking. Other evolutionists are proposing similar rapid genetic mutation to explain the lack of a fossil evidence.

In his article, “Paleontology and Evolutionary Theory,” published in Evolution, the late David B. Kitts a paleontologist at Oklahoma University wrote:

 “Despite the bright promise that paleontology provides a means of ‘seeing’ evolution, it has presented some nasty difficulties for evolutionists, the most notorious of which is the presence of ‘gaps’ in the fossil record. Evolution requires intermediate forms between species, and paleontology does not provide them.”

The problem that Schwartz, Kitts and others are referring to is the sudden emergence of fully formed fossils in what is called the Cambrian Explosion. There is no gradual evolution, fully formed animal fossils just suddenly appear in the rock.

In an article in American Scientist, “The Evolution of Anthropod Nervous Systems”, Daniel Osorio, Jonathan Bacon and Paul Whitington described the problem this way:

“As Darwin noted in the Origin of Species, the abrupt emergence of arthropods in the fossil record during the Cambrian presents a problem for evolutionary biology. There are no obvious simpler or intermediate forms—either living or in the fossil record—that show convincingly how modern arthropods evolved from worm-like ancestors. Consequently there has been a wealth of speculation and contention.”

In fact, Blair Scott who worked as communications director for American Atheists confessed in a debate on evolution and creation with Kyle Butt of Apologetics Press:

“[I]f I take the Cambrian Explosion, on its own, the logical conclusion I would draw is, ‘Wow! It was created’.”

Creationists have claimed for years that the huge gap in the fossil records presented by the Cambrian Explosion is evidence of creation, not evolution.

According to the Genesis account God created vegetation on the second day (Gen 1:12) and on the fourth day fish and birds (v 20) and on the fifth day animals (v 24). They just suddenly appeared.

As evolutionists continue their incremental evolution, they will eventually end up at where it all started — Creation.

For more information on the Cambrian Explosion read Darwin’s Doubt: The explosive origin of animal, life and the case for intelligent design by Stephen C. Meyer. He received his Ph.D from the University of Cambridge and explains the major difficulties evolutionists face holding to their theory.

Source:

• The Thinkers: Pitt anthropologist thinks Darwin’s theory needs to evolve on some points: Pittsburgh Post Gazette
• The Cambrian Explosion: Falsification of Darwinian Evolution: Apologetics Press