Historical Biogeography of South America, Part II: Fossil Vertebrates
This section focuses on South American fossil vertebrates, excluding marine fish. Extinct families will be emphasized here, as living families were considered in Part 1.
This section focuses on South American fossil vertebrates, excluding marine fish. Extinct families will be emphasized here, as living families were considered in Part 1.
Could not God have used the process of natural selection to create living organisms? What evidence might one use to answer that question? Published in Origins v. 25, n. 2.
Many families of vertebrates appear to have reached South America from the north, as would be expected as they dispersed from the ark after the worldwide flood. These include all the widespread families. Many other families are restricted to South America. Their biogeographical history is unknown.
This brief monograph was written to champion the views of a minority in the scientific community. This minority holds that it is possible to accept this ancient report of Earth's creation at face value — and still be a true scientist. But the main purpose is to go a step further. It will be argued that a close examination of life can lead observers to the logical conclusion that life itself is an actual evidence for creation. Published in Origins v. 25, n. 1.
What are genes? What role do they play in the function of organisms?
As a scientist, I frequently find myself taking a polemic stance in defense of creationism. In doing this, I easily lose sight nature as a revealer of its Creator. It is a pleasant change to contemplate my field of scientific interest, looking for insight about the Creator.
As biological knowledge has increased, the argument for design has been revived and expressed in more sophisticated ways, such as the argument from “irreducible complexity.” The existence of certain features that could not survive in intermediate stages is evidence of a Designer. It is also evidence of a Designer God who created by special intervention—Creation—and not through a continuous process such as evolution.
Ancient fossil reefs are considered to be a challenge to the biblical concept of creation. But do these fossil reefs really negate the biblical account of beginnings? Published in Origins v. 21, n. 2.
Pseudogenes are DNA sequences that resemble functional genes but seem to have no purpose. The presence of similar eta globin pseudogenes in humans and chimps has been used as an argument for common ancestry of the two species.
The philosophical context in which biology is presented can make an important difference in its meaning for the student. The philosophical worldview of the biblical Christian is quite different from that of the non-Christian; thus, the biology teacher may have a profound influence on the development of worldview by the student.
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.
Evolution theory is based on competition and struggle for survival, but some animals act in a way that favors reproduction of other individuals and reduces their own competitive status. The theory of sociobiology wants to explain this altruistic behavior as having a genetic basis, so that individuals with the gene tend to help other individuals with the same gene,.This maintains the gene in the population. The idea that human behavior is genetically determined is controversial. Published in Origins v. 19, n. 2.
In the early development of the theory of evolution by natural selection, two men stand out as having played a central role: Charles Darwin and Alfred Wallace. Both men traveled widely and were keen observers of nature. For both men, visits to islands played an important role in developing their understanding of nature. Darwin's visit to the Galapagos Islands is of special interest.