Many kinds of animals appear designed for predation and violence, in contrast to what one would expect based on the biblical description of Edenic peace. It seems that animal species must have changed in major ways since the creation, but is this idea compatible with biblical teachings? Many people have asked this question, wondering whether changes in species point to evolution rather than creation.…
The West Chester University Professor of Biology, Frank E. Fish, was vacationing along New England's coast frequented by magnificent humpbacked whales. While browsing in a gift shop one day he couldn't help but notice a gifted sculptor’s rendition of one of the splendid creatures and commented to the shop owner that the artist had put bumps on the wrong side of the pectoral fin. The bumps should be…
What is the utility of a fourth or a fifth of a wing stroke? Could any insect or bird get by with a wing that is a fraction of its normal size? Could it serve its purpose working at a reduced capacity? These questions are a challenge for those who accept Darwinian gradualism and adaptation. According to the Darwinian evolution theory, biological traits arise by small genetic variations steadily modifying…
Recently I flew to London on the new Boeing 787 Dreamliner. Despite what media hype might lead a Dreamliner passenger to expect, there were no fires on board and the experience wasn’t particularly different from what I’ve experienced on innumerable other flights. From my perspective, the seats were too small, too close together and too hard. That is not to say that there were not some differences,…
A collection of short commentaries of scientific papers published in 2008, covering topics such as biogeography, sponge reefs, origin of life, human mutations, Arctic tree rings, fossil gecko. Published in Origins n. 63.
Studies of species in the sixteenth century began with numerous suggestions of wide variability, but after Francesco Redi helped to falsify spontaneous generation, scholars began to view species as essentially fixed. Published in Origins, n. 62.
The idea that different types of organisms were created and commanded to reproduce "after their kinds" seems widely believed among creationists. It may therefore come as a surprise to many to learn the idea is not stated in the Bible. Published in Origins n. 60.
Within a Darwinian framework, this means that all genes shared by humans and sea urchins must have been present in a common ancestor shared sometime before Cambrian strata, which contain both chordate and echinoderm fossils, formed. Published in Origins n. 60.
The words kind and kinds that are mentioned in the Creation narrative of Genesis 1:21, 24, and 25. How are we to understand these terms in a modern context? How do they relate to current terms and classifications in biology?
In this article, the multivariate technique of classical multidimensional scaling is introduced to baraminology. Published in Origins n. 57.
Animals can change in small or even large ways to adapt to their surroundings, but humans were created as God’s perfect climax to all that had thus far been created.
The idea that species have changed since the creation is implicit in creation theory. The extent of change is limited, but the rate of change can be quite rapid. Creationists should not be criticized for believing in fixity of species, because (limited) change in species has been incorporated into modern creation theory. Published in Origins n. 54.
Thirteen biological phenomena are discussed in conjunction with evolution, creationist theories of diversification, and the hypothesis that transposable elements may produce rapid change in species. Published in Origins n. 54.
How does one account for bird migrations? Why do they migrate at all? How do they know when it’s time to begin the long journey? What guides their flight path and direction? How do they know their destination, and how do they prepare for the trip?
The complex and vitally essential ecology and biodiversity we find in nature today, at the top of the structural hierarchy of nature, suggest that many interacting organisms would have been required right from the beginning. Only a short-term creation would provide such ecosystem requirements.
New information from whole-genome sequencing may contribute to creationist theory regarding the extent of change in species. Published in Origins v. 24, n. 2.
Review of the book, The Biotic Message: Evolution Versus Message Theory. Published in Origins v. 24, n. 1.
A collection of short commentaries on scientific papers published in 1993-1994, covering such topics as parasite degeneration, convergence in diapsid reptiles, induced neoteny, genetic code, directed mutation in bacteria, radiohalos in a diamond, coelacanth phylogeny, marsupial phylogeny, origin of life, and fossil change in Jurassic rocks. Published in Origins v. 22, n. 1.
This paper proposes that mutation and natural selection can produce biological change, but are not sufficient to explain the origins of biodiversity and complexity. Instead, the authors argue that genetic complexity is the result of intelligent design, and was at a maximum when life on Earth first came into being. Published in Origins v. 20, n. 2.
A collection of short commentaries on scientific papers published in 1991, covering topics such as Permian trees, molecular genetics, epigenetics, inheritance of paternal mtDNA, water and formation of petroleum, water in mantle rocks, impacts, Ordovician volcanism, molecular phylogenies of ratites, termites, cichlids and sabertooths, osteocalcin in dinosaur bones, fossil flowers, origin of life, Precambrian predation, stromatolites, Cambrian Explosion, quality of fossil record, rapid speciation, tree biogeography, Miocene ape, fossil dermopteran, Asian marsupial, dinosaurs, mammal-like reptile. Published in Origins v. 19, n. 2.
