How does the fossil record throw the theory of evolution into doubt?
1 Answer
It doesn't - the fossil record is fully consistent and supportive of evolution.
Explanation:
The fossil record is one line of evidence for evolution, but not the only line. Similar DNA, similar microbiology, similar structures, etc. are other lines of evidence that support evolution. Evolution is now considered an established fact in biology and as one famous biologist said....nothing in biology makes sense without evolution (paraphrased).
The fossil record shows many examples of how species, like for example the horse family, have adapted and evolved over millions of years. See pic.
There are a number of transitional fossils, but for every transition fossil that is found, creationist like to say ....well, what about the even narrower gap that remains? This is a false argument as you could go on for ever asking for even finer and finer transition fossils.
One biologists also stated that if, for example, a fossil rabbit was found in Cambrian period rocks (500 million years ago, well before any land animal had evolve), that kind of evidence would really call evolution into question. But, this kind of contradictory evidence has never been found.
