In this blog post, we will look at whether living fossils can be evidence that refutes the theory of evolution, or whether they are instead evidence that supports the theory of evolution.
A living fossil is a species that has a similar appearance to an ancient creature and for which no related species currently exist. These living fossils are often used by creationists as evidence that evolution is wrong. For example, they claim that since ginkgo trees or cockroaches look the same as they did in the fossil record, evolution did not occur. But are living fossils really evidence that evolution is wrong? To answer this question, let’s look at the reasons why.
There are three major errors in the claim that living fossils are evidence that refutes the theory of evolution. First, evolution is not necessarily a law that requires change to occur. People who make this false claim usually mistake the theory of evolution as a process that starts with single-celled organisms such as amoeba, then goes through fish, amphibians, reptiles, and mammals, and finally ends with humans. Because of this, they sometimes ask the wrong question, “When do monkeys become humans?” However, this stems from a major misunderstanding of the theory of evolution. According to the theory of evolution, all current species have evolved from a common ancestor of life on Earth over a period of more than three billion years. In other words, all current species have evolved over the same period of time. E. coli, lizards, and cats have all evolved over the same period of time. So why haven’t they become humans? This is because the theory of evolution does not claim that all species of living things undergo changes and eventually become humans. In the theory of evolution, there is no law that states that species of living things must change in order to achieve a specific goal. However, because they started out as the simplest forms of life, if changes occur later, they are likely to evolve into larger and more complex forms, and most of the time, they evolve in a direction that is beneficial for survival according to environmental factors such as the surrounding terrain, climate, and natural enemies. The important point is that species adapt to their surroundings and change to a form that is advantageous for their survival. This means that, conversely, if the change is not advantageous or disadvantageous for survival, the species may not change. Therefore, species that live in places with little environmental change, such as the deep sea, or species whose current form is very advantageous for their survival, may remain unchanged for a long time. For example, species such as the coelacanth, which lives in the deep sea, and the cockroach, which is very advantageous for survival. The existence of living fossils can be fully explained by the theory of evolution.
The second reason is that living fossils cannot be judged to be identical to ancient species. People who deny the theory of evolution believe that living fossils destroy the theory of evolution and are eager to find them. In fact, in the book “Atlas of Creation” by creationist Harun Yahya, living fossils are mentioned in 1,397 entries. They claim that living things that remain unchanged over a long period of time are proof that they are immutable and that evolution does not occur. However, there is not a single species that can be said to have not evolved. This is because fossils can only show the appearance of ancient organisms. Fossils alone cannot tell us about the genes, biochemical systems, or immune responses of the organism. Therefore, even if a living fossil is similar in appearance to an ancient species, we cannot be sure that it has not changed in any way that cannot be determined by appearance. In fact, it is more difficult for changes to occur at the genetic level. It is widely known that errors occur during the DNA replication process, causing changes in the DNA after only one generation. Moreover, species that are called living fossils are often forcibly grouped into the same species simply because they look similar. In reality, they have evolved into quite different forms. For example, cockroaches have evolved into a variety of sizes and shapes, with more than 4,000 species currently existing, which are quite different from the ancient giant cockroach species. They have also become significantly smaller in size, and the appearance of living cockroach species has become more complex.
The last reason is that the organisms found in most fossils do not exist today. Simply put, most of the ancient species that remain as fossils are not alive today, with the exception of a few living fossils. This is a big problem for creationists, who completely ignore this fact. They also desperately search for living fossils to disprove the theory of evolution, but this is also why they are difficult to find. From the standpoint of denying the theory of evolution, all species are created and have remained unchanged to this day. They also believe that the fossils were formed all at once during the Great Flood about 4,000 years ago. This raises the question of how many species became extinct during the Great Flood. According to their argument, there were no extinct species because Noah saved all species by putting them on the ark one pair at a time. Then how can we explain the currently living fossils? The more creationists claim that living fossils are evidence that refutes the theory of evolution, the more they emphasize species that only exist as fossils, which weakens their logic. At present, the only theory that can explain the few living fossils and the vast majority of species that can only be seen as fossils is the theory of evolution.
The above three reasons show that living fossils cannot be evidence to disprove the theory of evolution, but rather can be used to support the theory of evolution. It can also be seen that the evolutionary position on living fossils is more valid than the creationist position. However, these reasons alone cannot be used to conclude that the theory of evolution is “right” or “wrong.” Whether it is the theory of evolution or the opposite, it is because it is impossible to observe or verify experimentally. In fact, unless a time machine is created, it is impossible to know exactly how the existence of living fossils came about. However, it cannot be denied that the theory of evolution is the most valid and scientific theory to date. Although the theory of evolution currently relies on uncertain factors such as chance and natural selection, it will be possible to clearly explain the evolutionary phenomena of all living things, including living fossils, over time.
