Science, Creation & EvolutionSudden appearance of phyla in the Cambrian explosionHowever: Primitive microbes found in rocks covered by the sea 1.4 billion years ago are providing support for the theory that life may have originated in a type of "underwater chimney", Chinese scientists said recently.
The "geological evidence" found on rocks near the Great Wall in northeast China challenges the prevailing theory that evolution depended exclusively on sunlight, said Li Jianghai, professor with the earth and space institute attached to the elite Beijing University.
http://english.people.com.cn/200304/02/ ... 4436.shtml
Also: What was life like 560 million years ago? The Vendian marks the first appearance of a group of large fossils collectively known as the "Vendian biota" or "Ediacara fauna." The question of what these fossils are is still not settled to everyone's satisfaction; at various times they have been considered algae, lichens, giant protozoans, or even a separate kingdom of life unrelated to anything living today. Some of these fossils are simple blobs that are hard to interpret and could represent almost anything. Some are most like cnidarians, worms, or soft-bodied relatives of the arthropods. Others are less easy to interpret and may belong to extinct phyla. But besides the fossils of soft bodies, Vendian rocks contain trace fossils, probably made by wormlike animals slithering over mud. The Vendian rocks thus give us, and YOU through our virtual museum, a good look at the first animals to live on Earth.
http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/vendian/critters.html Meert told Discovery News, "The climate ranged from tropical to subtropical and there were areas of warm shallow seas."
The researchers think trilobites, and possibly other early animals, do not show up in the fossil record until later because the animals may have been too small, or too biodegradable.
"One suggestion is that many animals, including the trilobites, were around but they were very tiny. In particular, tinier than the animals that are usually preserved in the fossil record," Lieberman told Discovery News. "The second explanation is that perhaps the animals were around and of moderate size but lacked hard shells."
He added, "Maybe it is when organisms are at very low population sizes and rare that they are most likely to undergo major periods of evolutionary change, but this is precisely when they're least likely to be preserved in the fossil record."
Yet another study, published in the current Royal Society Biology Letters, supports the theory that life existed well before 543 million years ago, which often is referred to as the Cambrian radiation or explosion. http://dsc.discovery.com/news/briefs/20 ... nimal.html
One word that keeps popping up in this article is the word "maybe".
Now lets go back to this: Evilutionist wrote:This is an excellent question and one that has intrigued scientists for a long time. Before I give you my answer, could you tell me what sort of evidence you would accept as reasonable? I would also like to say that the Cambrian radiation is a hotly debated issue in science because there is so much we don't know about it. Recent work has hinted at some points of discussion and the evolutionary perspective on the CE has generated some predictions borne out by later studies. However, at this point in time, no one can answer your question about the detailed evolutionary steps leading to the Cambrian fossil record. So, if the answer that satisfies you is that "We don't know" then you can stop reading this thread. If you'd like to know what we do know and what paths of research are active, please read on.
”We don’t know” is a satisfactory answer and indicates Darwin’s theory is far from being a “scientific fact”, which is why I believe that evolution should be taught with the disclaimer proposed by those scientists whose science indicates a “designed universe”.
I am not advocating teaching a "designer" in science classes, as this is not the purpose of science.
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