You are herePhylogenetic Trees and Molecular Family Histories
The authors do not understand phylogeny, and have a very limited understanding of the biological vocabular and issues. They propose that if common descent is correct, then: A "family history" of organisms based on their anatomy should match the "family history" based on their molecules (such as DNA and proteins). This is simply wrong. Do Different Genes Mean Different Phylogenetic Trees?
Phylogenetic trees based on single genes (or small numbers of genes) can differ from one another, but Explore Evolution overstates both the extent of the inconsistencies and their implications for phylogenetic reconstruction. Inconsistencies are most common when analyzing phylogenetic events in the very deep past (such as separation of the main animal groups in the pre-Cambrian), and occur for reasons that are well characterized and indeed predicted based on statistical and evolutionary considerations (changes in evolutionary rates, convergent evolution, etc.). Weasel Words
"Weasel Words"Chapter 3 is replete with "weasel words" --phrases that imply something without explicitly stating it, that make statements without backing, that cite sources without naming those sources. The Three Domains
3 DOMAINS
The 3 DomainsPage 23 is a sidebar showing "Biological Classification." The page correctly points out that the most fundamental taxonomic split of organisms is into the three domains: Bacteria, Archaea, Eukaryota. Of these domains, Explore Evolution says, "Each of these has a fundamentally different cell structure." Geologic "Closeness"
How much time is shown in a rock outcrop?Explore Evolution says: Textbooks also frequently fail to mention that the different skeletons shown in transitional sequences (including the mammal-like reptiles) were not found close together geologically.
Time Represented in Outcrops
Time Represented in Rock OutcropsThe strata in Figure 1:1 show a relatively small segment of rock. Figure 1:1 also shows four fossils--a one-toed horse, a frog, a trilobite, and a coral. Punctuated Equilibrium
Is there a problem with Punctuated equilibrium?Summary of problems with claim: Full discussion: Explore Evolution claims punctuated equilibrium is a more accurate description of the fossil record, but species selection doesn't work as a mechanism so punctuated equilibrium can't explain the origin of new body plans or new structures. So punctuated equilibrium confirms that there are few transitional forms, but leaves no mechanism for explaining transitions. Absence of Fossil Evidence
Does an absence of fossil evidence shows that ancestral species did not exist?Summary of problems with claim: The fact that a particular species at a given place and time didn't fossilize doesn't mean that the species didn't exist. Full discussion: Explore Evolution states: Fossil Preservation
The nature of fossil preservationSometimes the fossilized organism was buried in sediment.
Sudden taxonomic levels
Do taxonomic levels appear too suddenly?Not only do new mammalian orders appear suddenly, but when they appear, they are already separated into their distinctive forms. For example, during the Eocene epoch (just after the Paleocene), the first fossil bat appears suddenly in the fossil record. When it does, it is unquestionably a bat, capable of true flight. Yet, we find nothing resembling a bat in the earlier rocks.
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