Evolution requires progress through many nonfunctional intermediates

From EvoWiki

Contents 1 Claim 2 Source 3 Response 4 Acknowledgments 5 Related claims

Claim

Evolution requires a set of meaningless intermediates, for example:

• He sat on the mat.
• He stt on the mat.
• He sto on the mat.
• He stoo on the mat.
• He stood on the mat.

Source

• Michael Denton, Evolution: A Theory in Crisis, p. 89

Response

1. An analogy between words and biology is poor. For example, adding an extra letter to the end of a word changes the meaning of the word, but adding an amino acid to the end of a protein will not (save in very rare cases) change the function of the protein.
2. Evolution may require a slight decrease in fitness for a short period, but this is possible in certain situations where the climate and resources are conducive to survival, and thus even the least fit of organisms will be able to pass their genes on for a few generations. If, when this plentiful period ends, those descended from what were previously the least fit are now the most fit, then the intermediates have been effectively passed over without natural selection acting strongly against them.
3. Even if evolution does require progress through many nonfunctional intermediates it does not make it incorrect as long as organisms and the fossil record show evidence of Adaptation and Common descent evolution is not invalidated by this claim.
4. Furthermore, just because some of those intermediates do not perform the very same function they do in the present organisms, it does not mean that they were useless in the past performing a slightly or even completely different task.
5. The intermediate fossils of hominids, or the ancestors which bridge the gap between apes and humans, were all fully functioning creatures, each of which show small morphological changes over time. Beginning with creatures like Sahelanthropus, progressing to Austrailopiticines, and eventually the entire genus of Homo, each of these creatures had adaptations which helped them survive in thier respective environments and increased their likelihood to procreate. The basis of evolution is that creatures have to possess advantageous traits which aid in their survival. Otherwise creatures with deformities and handicaps would not be able to compete for resources, could not procreate and would become extinct.

Acknowledgments

• Kabane52
• Fang 23
• Doddy

Related claims

• What use is half an eye?
• We should see a smooth continuum through the fossil record
• Punctuated equilibrium was ad hoc to justify gaps
• Punctuated equilibrium is the opposite of standard evolutionary theory
• Fossil record doesn't show transition from simple organisms to complex ones since bacteria are already complex
• Fossil record doesn't show progress
• Some species don't seem to evolve for millions of years
• Speciation hasn't been observed in the fossil record
• We don't see creatures in various stages of completion