Title Author Date

gaps in the fossil record De Bruycker, Gilbert Dec 30, 2007

Dear Sir,

At http://www.amnation.com/vfr/archives/009557.html, I have read the article The Darwinian comedy continues.

In this article Lawrence Auster states "Anti-Darwinists such as myself reject Darwinism, first, because its most basic claims lack the most basic evidence--the fossil record--to support them. So, it's not an impossible standard that the Darwinians fail to live up to, it's the minimal standard that they fail to live up to. As Ann Coulter says in a brilliant passage in Godless, it's not that there are just some gaps in the fossil record, it's that the entire fossil record is a gap."

After having read this, I have sent him the message down below. I thought it might be interesting to know his response.
Since I am a layman I don't know how to reply. Could you help me with this?

Sincerely,
Gilbert De Bruycker

----- Original Message -----
From: Lawrence Auster
To: Gilbert De Bruycker
Sent: Saturday, December 29, 2007 1:57 PM
Subject: Re: fossil record

I recommend you read the two chapters on evolution in Coulter's Godless. it is the most incisive discussion of the fossil gap I've seen, including the fraudulent way that Darwinians claim the gaps are being "closed" by the discovery of a single supposed transition form when there would need to be hundreds.

A Darwinian author told me that he thought Coulter's discussion was excellent and that he found nothing major to disagree with in it. He still believes in Darwinism; he holds out hope that new discoveries may yet save Darwinism. But he admits that as the evidence stands the anti-Darwinians have good arguments.

----- Original Message -----
From: Gilbert De Bruycker
To: lawrence.auster@att.net
Sent: Saturday, December 29, 2007 8:04.a.m.
Subject: fossil record

http://evolution.berkeley.edu/evosite/misconceps/IICgaps.shtml

Misconception: "Gaps in the fossil record disprove evolution."

Response: The fact that some transitional fossils are not preserved does not disprove evolution. Evolutionary biologists do not expect that all transitional forms will be found and realize that many species leave no fossils at all. Lots of organisms don't fossilize well and the environmental conditions for forming good fossils are not that common. So, science actually predicts that for many evolutionary changes there will be gaps in the record.
Also, scientists have found many transitional fossils. For example, there are fossils of transitional organisms between modern birds and their theropod dinosaur ancestors, and between whales and their terrestrial mammal ancestors.

Title Author Date

gaps in the fossil record TalkReason , Dec 30, 2007

Dear Mr. Bruyker:

Thank you for your letter. We are not interested in responding to Auster's post or to the website you refer to. It seems to be just one more of multiple anti-science sites posting atrociously ignorant pseudo-arguments. It is senseless to respond to diatribes by people who may
consider anything by Coulter to be "brilliant." Coulter's "Godless" book, and more specifically those chapters that deal with evolution, has been shown to be egregiously ignorant rants by an illiterate fanatic - see, for example
posts by Jim Downard (http://www.talkreason.org/articles/coulter1.cfm, http://www.talkreason.org/articles/coulter2.cfm, and http://www.talkreason.org/articles/coulter3.cfm) on our site (as well as the humorous post by
Peter Olofsson [http://www.talkreason.org/articles/CoulterHoax.cfm]). To spend more effort on this nonsense would be a
sheer waste of time. If, though, you desire to engage in a debate with arrogant ignoramuses like Auster, it is your choice and we wish you success.

You may, if you wish, use material from Downard's posts to repudiate the pseudo-arguments by the likes of Auster.

Best wishes,

Talk Reason administration