If macroevolution is true\u2014if human beings are the result of millions of years of gradual evolution from an ancient, single-celled life form\u2014there should be abundant evidence in the fossil record that verifies such a contention. There should be billions of transitional fossils\u2014fossils of intermediate creatures mid-way in their evolution between animal kinds. To the dismay of the evolutionary community, such evidence is conspicuously missing. Renowned evolutionary paleontologist of Harvard University, Stephen J. Gould, admitted some thirty years ago what remains true today:<\/p>\n
The absence of fossil evidence<\/strong> for intermediary stages between major transitions in organic design, indeed our inability, even in our imagination, to construct functional intermediates in many cases, has been apersistent and nagging problem<\/strong> for gradualistic accounts of evolution (Gould, 1980, 6[1]:127, emp. added).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Colin Patterson, the late paleontologist who served as the editor of the professional journal published by the British Museum of Natural History in London, even conceded:<\/p>\n
I fully agree with your comments on the lack of direct illustration of evolutionary transitions in my book. If I knew of any, fossil or living, I would certainly have included them\u2026. Yet Gould and the American Museum people are hard to contradict when they say there are no transitional forms<\/strong>\u2026. I will it lay it on the line\u2014there is not one such fossil for which one could make a watertight argument <\/strong>(Patterson, 1979, 19[8]:8, emp. added).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Thus, it comes as no surprise that the evolutionary community, with the help of the news media, jumps at any mention of a potential transitional fossil find. The media is quick to broadcast the fossil find far and wide–yet without adequate evidence to substantiate the evolutionists\u2019 claims. Perhaps you have heard mention of \u201cCro-Magnon Man\u201d by evolutionists. Who is Cro-Magnon Man? Are the Cro-Magnon fossils proof of evolution? Are they transitional fossils that provide a \u201cmissing link\u201d in the evolution of man from ape-like ancestors?<\/p>\n
In 1868, near the village of Les Eyzies in southwestern France, a rock shelter dated to be 23,000-27,000 years old (using evolutionary dating techniques) known as \u201cAbri de Cro-Magnon\u201d was investigated. In it, the first Cro-Magnon fossils were discovered (O\u2019Neil, 2011). According to evolutionists, the fossils were considered to be of \u201cearly modern humans,\u201d who \u201cwere very similar in appearance to modern Europeans\u201d (O\u2019Neil). Some scientists have decided that the Cro-Magnons \u201care not sufficiently different enough from modern humans to warrant a separate designation. Scientists today use \u2018Anatomically Modern Human\u2019 (AMH) or \u2018Early Modern Human\u2019 (EMH) to designate the Upper Paleolithic human beings who looked a lot like us\u2026\u201d (Hirst, 2011). ScienceDaily<\/em> reports that the Cro-Magnoids were \u201cthe first people who had a skeleton that looked anatomically modern<\/strong>\u201d (Public Library of Science, 2008, emp. added). So clearly, according to evolutionists themselves, the Cro-Magnons looked<\/strong> like modern man.<\/p>\n
Recent research indicates that the Cro-Magnons were also genetically<\/strong> the same as modern Europeans (Caramelli, et al., 2008). So, if it looks like a modern man anatomically, and if it even looks like a man genetically\u2026what\u2019s the difference? Ultimately, there is no difference. However, according to the theory of evolution, there must be a difference, because the human brain has been a product of evolution. Thus, according to evolutionary thinking, the assumption must be made that humans living thousands of years ago would have been less intelligent and capable, since their brains had not yet fully developed. With this in mind, they define a \u201cmodern man\u201d as one who is considered to be more recent. The problem is that there is no evidence that human beings evolved in such a manner. The transitional fossils are lacking. What the evidence indicates is that humans have always been humans<\/strong>. Humans have always been \u201cmodern man.\u201d Humans have always had the intelligence to do great things that are not understood even today\u2014from the pyramids of Giza to the Egyptian embalming abilities; from the Paracas civilization of South America who amazingly conducted successful brain surgery over 2,000 years ago (\u201cThe Inca\u2026,\u201d 2010), to the Maya astronomers, studying the stars over 1,000 years ago and creating a calendar using a sophisticated gear system of such precision that eclipses could be anticipated and the cycles of the Moon documented with an error of only 33 seconds (\u201cThe Maya\u2026,\u201d 2010); from the Moche people, living 1,500 years ago and engineering enormous structures, including the \u201cTemple of the Sun,\u201d constructed with over 140,000,000 adobe bricks (\u201cThe Inca\u2026\u201d), to the Nazca people, also living over 1,500 years ago, who developed sophisticated irrigation systems and who made enormous pictures in the ground which are only viewable by air. The lines which comprise the pictures are barely visible at all by ground. These lines\u2014covering some 135 miles\u2014include a 450 feet long bird, an enormous spider, and a killer whale (\u201cThe Lost City of Nasca,\u201d 2000; \u201cNazca Lines and Cahuachi Culture, 2011; \u201cThe Inca\u2026\u201d). Historians are at a loss as to how or why these pictures were made. Some have speculated that they were made for extraterrestrials to see from space. Some believe they were for irrigation purposes. In 1975, Jim Woodman built a hot air balloon using materials that the Nazca were believed to have in their day and flew it over the images, illustrating that the Nazca may have been able to fly (\u201cThe Inca\u2026\u201d).<\/p>\n
The truth is, humans have always been \u201cmodern man.\u201d Scientific breakthroughs may be made at different times in history that cause technology to surge forward and give humanity more insight into the created order, but such breakthroughs are not an indication of the evolving brain of mankind. Such breakthroughs are due to the fact that God\u2019s beneficent hand is involved in the affairs of men, causing it to \u201crain on the just and the unjust\u201d (Matthew 5:45). Bottom line: Cro-Magnon Man is not a missing link. Cro-Magnon Man is just an evolutionary name for a \u201cmodern\u201d man. [Note: see Thompson, et al., 2002 for a thorough examination of many of the alleged transitional fossils.]<\/p>\n
REFERENCES<\/h2>\n
Caramelli, D., L. Milani, S. Vai, A. Modi, E. Pecchioli, M. Girardi, et al. (2008), \u201cA 28,000 Years Old Cro-Magnon mtDNA Sequence Differs from All Potentially Contaminating Modern Sequences,\u201d PLoS One<\/em>, 3[7]:e2700, http:\/\/www.plosone.org\/article\/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0002700.<\/p>\n
Gould, Stephen Jay (1980), \u201cIs a New and General Theory of Evolution Emerging?,\u201d Paleobiology<\/em>, 6[1]:119-130, Winter.<\/p>\n
Hirst, K. Kris (2011), \u201cWhy Don\u2019t We Call Them Cro-Magnon Anymore? What Are \u2018Anatomically Modern Humans\u2019?,\u201d About.com: Archaeology<\/em>, http:\/\/archaeology.about.com\/od\/earlymansites\/a\/cro_magnon.htm.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Inca: Secrets of the Ancestors\u2014Part 8\u201d (2010), Time Life\u2019s Lost Civilizations Series<\/em>, http:\/\/www.documentarystream.com\/time-lifes-lost-civilizations\/.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Lost City of Nasca\u201d (2000), BBC Home<\/em>, http:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/science\/horizon\/1999\/nasca.shtml.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Maya: The Blood of Kings\u2014Part 7\u201d (2010), Time Life\u2019s Lost Civilizations Series<\/em>, http:\/\/www.documentarystream.com\/time-lifes-lost-civilizations\/.<\/p>\n
\u201cNasca Lines and Cahuachi Culture\u201d (2011), http:\/\/www.crystalinks.com\/nazca.html.<\/p>\n
O\u2019Neil, Dennis (2011), \u201cEarly Modern Homo Sapiens,\u201d Palomar College, http:\/\/anthro.palomar.edu\/homo2\/mod_homo_4.htm.<\/p>\n
Patterson, Colin (1979), Letter on April 10, 1979 to Luther Sunderland: reprinted in Bible-Science Newsletter<\/em>, 19[8]:8, August, 1981.<\/p>\n
Public Library of Science (2008), \u201cEurope\u2019s Ancestors: Cro-Magnon 28,000 Years Old Had DNA Like Modern Humans,\u201d ScienceDaily<\/em>, July 16, http:\/\/www.sciencedaily.com\/releases\/2008\/07\/080715204741.htm.<\/p>\n
Thompson, Bert, Brad Harrub, and Eric Lyons (2002), \u201cHuman Evolution and the \u2018Record of the Rocks,\u2019\u201d Apologetics Press, http:\/\/apologeticspress.org\/APContent.aspx?category=9&article=153.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
If macroevolution is true\u2014if human beings are the result of millions of years of gradual evolution from an ancient, single-celled life form\u2014there should be abundant evidence in the fossil record that verifies such a contention. There should be billions of transitional fossils\u2014fossils of intermediate creatures mid-way in their evolution between animal kinds. To the dismay… Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5324,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[46,9,61,62,287,72],"tags":[],"kids-category":[],"people":[286],"bible-book":[],"language":[168],"age-group":[173],"publication":[],"class_list":["post-5323","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-alleged-human-evolution","category-creation-vs-evolution","category-fossil-record","category-genetics","category-in-the-news","category-paleontology","people-jeff-miller-phd","language-english","age-group-adults"],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/apologeticspress.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Cro-magnon-Just-Human-JM2.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/apologeticspress.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5323","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/apologeticspress.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/apologeticspress.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/apologeticspress.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/apologeticspress.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5323"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/apologeticspress.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5323\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":37373,"href":"https:\/\/apologeticspress.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5323\/revisions\/37373"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/apologeticspress.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5324"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/apologeticspress.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5323"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/apologeticspress.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5323"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/apologeticspress.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5323"},{"taxonomy":"kids-category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/apologeticspress.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/kids-category?post=5323"},{"taxonomy":"people","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/apologeticspress.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/people?post=5323"},{"taxonomy":"bible-book","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/apologeticspress.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bible-book?post=5323"},{"taxonomy":"language","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/apologeticspress.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/language?post=5323"},{"taxonomy":"age-group","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/apologeticspress.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/age-group?post=5323"},{"taxonomy":"publication","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/apologeticspress.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/publication?post=5323"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}