Page 144 - The Transitional Form Dilemma

THE TRANSITIONAL-FORM DILEMMA

Focus magazine described the result of his study:
The flexible fins had no similar functions to those in four-footed land verte-
brates. These allowed the creature to swim head-down and in all directions,
even backwards. 111
The coelacanth, showing no trace of any changes over 400 million
years, left evolutionists in a difficult position. Also bearing in mind the
continental drift that’s occurred over that 400-million-year period, evo-
lutionists appear to be in a terrible predicament. Focus writes:
According to the scientific facts, all the continents were joined together some
250 million years ago. This enormous area of land was surrounded by a single
giant ocean. Around 125 million years ago, the Indian Ocean opened up as the
result of continents changing places. The volcanic caves in the Indian Ocean,
which form a large part of the coelacanth’s natural habitat, came about under
the influence of this movement of continents. An important truth emerges in
the light of all these facts. These animals, which have been in existence for some
400 million years, have remained unchanged despite the many changes in their
natural environment! 112
The fact that the coelacanth remained unchanged for 400 million
years clearly contradicts the thesis that new species came into being
through evolution and are constantly undergoing an evolutionary
process.
Moreover, the coelacanth reveals a deep gulf between land and sea
creatures, which the theory of evolution links together with an imagi-
nary transition. As Professor Keith P. Thomson writes in his book, The
Story of the Coelacanth:
For example, the first coelacanth certainly had the same rostral organ, intracra-
nial joint, paired fins, vertebral column, hollow notochord, and reduced teeth .
. . as a whole has not evolved much since the Devonian, but it also tells us that
there is a big gap in the record: We are missing the sequence of even older an-
cestral fossil. 113

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