"Strange as it sounds, scientists still do not know the answers to some of the most basic questions about how life on Earth evolved.."1
A well-known zoology text2 by five evolutionists reveal the limits of what is really known about the origin and alleged evolution of animals —
Reconstructing the evolutionary history of life is a fascinating pursuit, but biologists lack developmental and morphological informationfor many taxa. . . (p. 410 19th ed)
"Evolutionary relationships among ecdysozoans are not well understood." (p. 410 19th ed)
Relationships among cnidarian classes are still controversial. (p. 295 19th ed).
No truly satisfactory explanation has yet been given for the origins of metamerism [segmentation] and the coelom [a fluid-filled cavity], although the subject has stimulated much speculation and debate over the years (p. 392 19th ed).
The evolutionary relationships among these families [Polychaete] have not been easy to discern . . . (p. 375 19th ed)
The coelom appears to have evolved independently in protostomes and deuterostomes - we presume this because the way that the coelom is made during development is different in each group (p. 392 19th ed)
Deuterostomes likely arose in ancient Precambrian seas, probably as benthic, bilaterally symmetrical forms. (p. 513 19th ed)
We now envision the ancestral deuterostome . . . (p. 485 19th ed)
No truly satisfactory explanation has yet been given for the origins of metamerism and the coelom, although the subject has stimulated much speculation and debate. (p. 392 19th ed).
Biologists assume that the ancestral arthropod had a segmented body . . . (p. 429 19th ed.)
. . . there is not yet agreement on a new insect phylogeny. (p. 480 19th)
Our common horseshow crab Limulus goes back practically unchanged to the Triassic period. (p. 418 19th ed).
Echinoderms [sea stars] are an ancient group of animals extending back to at least the Cambrian period. (p. 486 19th ed).
Hemichordate phylogeny [evolution] has long been puzzling (p. 506 19th ed).
... zoologists have debated the question of chordate origins. It has been difficult to reconstruct the evolutionary history of the earliest chordates because they were probably soft-bodied creatures that had little chance of being preserved as fossils. (p. 511 19th ed.)
Let me suggest that biology majors tape this article to the inside cover of your zoology or biology text so you may see where science leaves off and the philosophy of macroevolution begins.
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1. Buranyi, S. Do We Need a New Theory of Evolution? The Guardian. June 28, 2022.
2. Hickman, C, et al. Integrated Principles of Zoology, 19th ed. McGraw Hill, 2024.
