Page 62 - Once Upon a Time There Was Darwinism

cacy in animal anatomy and explained that its characteristics
ruled out any idea of random alteration. Cuvier also argued
that "each species is so well coordinated, functionally and

structurally, that it could not survive significant change. He
further maintained that each species was created for its own
special purpose and each organ for its special function." 19
But Charles Darwin interpreted fossils differently. He
Once Upon a Time There Was Darwinism
believed that various species descended in stages from a sin-
gle, common ancestor in a process of evolution and that fos-
sils were proof of this process.

But Darwin's interpretation rests on no proof. On the
contrary, in his day, no extant fossils demonstrated evolution.
The fossil remains of extinct creatures did not share the kind
of family relationship and resemblance that Darwin's theory
required. Every known fossil, like every known living thing,
possessed its own unique features. As is the case with natural
history today, species of the past have not been very similar
and close to one another, but rather divided into groups that
are very different from one another, with major structural dif-

ferences between them.
For this reason, Darwin could not use fossils to prove his
theory. On the contrary, his book proposed "fabricated expla-
nations" to misrepresent this matter that posed such a serious
problem for him. He dealt with this matter in the chapter enti-
tled "Difficulties on Theory" and appended to the book an-
other chapter titled "On the Imperfection of the Geological

Record," that dealt with the absence of intermediate fossil
forms.

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