Re: Complexity of life
Arthur V. Chadwick (chadwicka@swau.edu)
Sat, 06 Nov 1999 21:10:26 -0800At 09:08 PM 11/05/1999 +0000, Glenn wrote:
>They have a chart which shows the number of cell types for various classes
>of animals vs. the time in which that group appears in the fossil record.
>Here is a list (taken from the chart so there is a slight error as I had to
>measure them):
>
>Porifera 10 cell types 570 myr
>Cnidaria 14 cell types 560 myr
>Haemocoelic Bilaterian 30 cell types 560 myr
>Arthropoda 51 cell types 530 myr
>Echinodermata, Annelids 39 cell types 525 myr
>Agnatha 64 cell types 510 myr
>Cephalopoda 75 cell types 500 myr
>Actinopterygii 132 cell types 400 myr
>Amphibia 150 cell types 330 myr
>Diapsida 154 cell types 300 myr
>Aves 187 cell types 150 myr
>Hominidae 210 cell types 5 myr
This makes no sense at all. All of the data are derived from the study of
extant groups. The assumption is made that these groups have not changed
over the entire span of their history. Is this what evolution is about?
Assuming they are correct in this assumption, the next question is obvious:
Why have the number of cell types been fixed since early Cambrian in the
major groups? What is evolution supposed to be doing? It certainly is not
expressing itself in the number of cell types of modern groups of
organisms. This kind of rubbish would never get published if it was not in
accord with the concensus paradigm.
Art
http://geology.swau.edu