Fossils and the rocks in which they are contained are an excellent platform for discussing origins from a biblical perspective, especially in relation to the design and complexity of ancient life and the worldwide destruction caused by Noah’s Flood.
A Cambrian fossil worm shows only minor differences from species still living, an example of family stasis.
Darwin saw evolution as a slow and steady process with species gradually transforming into new species over long time. He thought that the fossil record should provide evidence for his theory. However, the needed evidence proved to be elusive.
Cambrian arthropods were as complex as living species
Fossils are remains or other evidence of organisms that lived in the past and are preserved in the rocks. How did they form and what can we learn from them?
Is a recent fossil found in Peru evidence for transitional forms in an evolutionary sequence?
The abrupt appearance of trilobites in Cambrian strata and their absence in Precambrian sediments is a real feature of the rock record and not due to failure of preservation in Precambrian rocks.
A newly described Cambrian locality in China has added more than 50 new species to our knowledge.
A fossil bird recovered from Cretaceous lake deposits in China shows preservation of some soft tissues, including a pair of lungs that appear to have functioned in a way similar to those of living birds.
New observational data on the phenomenon of rapid bedrock erosion became recently available after the well documented events that affected the Oroville Dam in February 2017.
This post complements an article that was written in 2014. Since then, there have been some interesting developments in the area of Triassic pterosaurs that are worth mentioning, the most important being the recent description by Britt et al. (2018) of a Triassic pterosaur from the Nugget Sandstone of Utah.
A Christian scientist, while accepting the testimony of Scripture about God’s past intervention in Earth’s history, can still keep an open mind toward aspects of the geologic record that are unusual and different.
Can we learn more about the qualities of the Creator through the study of geology?
Imagine walking down the beach and coming across the words “Romeo loves Juliet” written in the sand. Most of us have experienced something like this and would not be surprised, but most people would be surprised to find the entire text of William Shakespeare’s play Romeo and Juliet written in sand. Why is this? The obvious reason is that sand is the wrong material for large writing projects. Sand grains…
Archaeopteryx is arguably the most famous fossil ever discovered. It has a mixture of bird-like and reptile-like traits, and was first reported only two years after Charles Darwin published his book, The Origin of Species. Since then, another eleven Archaeopteryx specimens have been recovered from the limestones near Solnhofen, Germany.
In preparation for Creation Sabbath on October 28, 2017, the Geoscience Research Institute (GRI) is creating a series of scientifically accurate and faith building displays. The exhibit will be opened during this year’s Autumn Council of the General Conference Executive Committee, held from October 5-11 at the world headquarters of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in Silver Spring, Maryland. “The displays…
“You are dust, and to dust you shall return.” This verse from Genesis 3 captures very well the fate of beautifully designed organisms after the entrance of sin into the world. But how long does it take for the organic molecules we are made of to break down after death? In general, the longer the time from death, the larger the amount of decay that should be observed. This is particularly true for soft…
Two important papers were published in May 2017, warranting an update on the subject of Homo naledi.
If given the choice where in our Milky Way galaxy you would prefer to live, where would you go? To one of those newly-discovered extra-solar planets the media get enthusiastic about when water has been detected there? Before you answer these questions remember that, beyond the presence of water, many other conditions must be fulfilled before any planet can support the continued existence of life as-we-know-it,…
The hypothesis of a large meteorite impacting the surface of the Earth at the end of the Cretaceous was introduced almost four decades ago. In the ensuing years, the geologic community gathered a large body of data in support of this hypothesis, elevating it to the status of a universally accepted fact of Earth history. However, competing models and lively discussions are still unfolding over the dynamics and environmental consequences of this large impact.
