Just a note to say that the list has been over the issue of the fossil
record and macroevolution before. I have stated that it is on the basis of
the fossil record that I accept common descent as a persuasive description
of the history of life. New discoveries have continually closed previous
gaps in formative history of the biological world. Such discoveries
continue apace. My web article on transitional forms (see the ASA webpage
or my personal webpage - URL below) written only two years ago is already
out of date, in that several significant new fossil discoveries have been
made in those two years.
BTW: Yes, I do believe that common descent and evolutionary mechanisms are
separable questions. Science often accepts a descriptive paradigm of the
phyiscal world before fully understanding underlying mechanisms.
Keith
Keith B. Miller
Department of Geology
Kansas State University
Manhattan, KS 66506
kbmill@ksu.ksu.edu
http://www-personal.ksu.edu/~kbmill/