Don't the Fossils Prove Evolution? | The Institute for Creation Research

Don't the Fossils Prove Evolution?

For decades students have been shown a representation of the fossil record appearing as a vertical column with marine invertebrates on the bottom, overlain by fish, then amphibians, reptiles, and mammals, with man on the top. The column is a column of time, they are told, with the long ago past on the bottom and the present on top. The fossil column (or similar figure) is presented without question as if it were true—as if it were real data. Students are led to believe that the order of first appearance of the fossils over time proves evolution.

I suggest that it does no such thing, for several reasons. First, the fossils do not occur in this order, simple to complex from bottom to top. The fossils at the bottom (i.e., long ago) are equally as complex as any animal today, and are essentially the same as their modern counterparts. In reality, the fossils appear abruptly in the record, fully formed and fully functional without less adapted ancestors in lower levels that would have preceded them in time. To be honest, the entire fossil record consists of predominately marine invertebrates (animals without a backbone, like clams, jellyfish, coral). The column is nothing more than a statement of evolutionary thinking. A case can perhaps be made for the order of first appearance of vertebrates (i.e., fish, amphibians, reptiles, mammals), but vertebrate fossils are exceptions to the rule and usually quite fragmentary, with the lower range of each often being extended downward with new discoveries. Most come from Ice Age deposits which sometimes contain human remains also.

Second, the evolutionary presentation in the textbook column implies that all life has come from one (or perhaps a few) common ancestor(s). But the Cambrian System, the lowest (i.e., oldest) level containing extensive multicellular fossils, exhibits a virtual explosion of life. Suddenly (by this I mean without the necessary ancestors lower in the column), every phylum of life is found—every basic body style, including vertebrate fish. The abrupt appearance of diverse forms of life does not match with evolutionary predictions of one form descending into many.

Third, these diverse forms continue up the column (i.e., throughout time) with much the same appearance possessed at the start. The term stasis describes the tendency to "stay" the same, remain "stationary" or "static." Some body styles go extinct as you come up the column, but no new basic styles are introduced.

Summarizing:

1) Abrupt appearance
2) Diversity at the start, and
3) Stasis.

Certainly the fossil record does not prove evolution. On the other hand, its character fully supports creation of multiple "kinds" at the start with no evolutionary lineage, and continuance of those rather static kinds with limited adaptations into the present, or else going extinct. This is the creation idea.

The fossils further support the Flood. While no evolutionary trends can be seen bridging the basic kinds and producing new ones, we do see a transition from totally marine at the bottom to more terrestrial toward the top. At every level the dominant fossil is marine, but more and more land-dwelling fossils creep in. What more persuasive testimony to the Biblical model could there be?

Cite this article: John D. Morris, Ph.D. 2003. Don't the Fossils Prove Evolution?. Acts & Facts. 32 (4).

The Latest
NEWS
Dr. James S. Johnson Goes Home to the Lord
Dr. James S. Johnson, chief academic officer and associate professor of apologetics for ICR’s School of Biblical Apologetics (SOBA), joined his...

NEWS
Pluto’s Largest Moon Looks Young
When the New Horizons space probe captured images of Pluto and its large moon Charon as it flew by in 2015, conventional scientists were surprised by...

NEWS
55-Million-Year-Old Tree Frog…Is Still a Tree Frog
In the 1990s, Australian paleontologists discovered fossil frog bones during a dig in Murgon, Queensland.1 This new species of frog—Litoria...

NEWS
Pastor and Longtime ICR Supporter Dr. John MacArthur Now with...
Faithful ICR supporter and pastor Dr. John MacArthur went home to be with the Lord on Monday, July 14, 2025, completing his 86-year pilgrimage.1...

CREATION PODCAST
Setting Sights on Scopes: The Truth Behind the Infamous Monkey...
The Scopes Trial is one of the most famous court cases in American history, and this year marks its one hundredth anniversary. Often,...

NEWS
Did Earthworms Rewrite Their DNA to Survive on Land?
An earthworm news story was recently posted that openly questions Darwin’s gradual and slow evolutionary progress in the living world.1...

NEWS
Mysterious Erosion Confirms High Flood Boundary
Two separate research reports arrived at a similar conclusion.1,2 Both found an episode of mysterious erosion had occurred near the end of...

NEWS
A Uniquely Designed Air-Filled Sac Within Birds’ Lungs
Soaring birds are a majestic sight to behold, especially when they undergo such climbing and endless spiraling so effortlessly. Not surprisingly, evolutionists...

NEWS
Liberty and the Word of God
“And I will walk at liberty: for I seek thy precepts” (Psalm 119:45). July 4th is called Independence Day here in our country because on...

NEWS
July 2025 ICR Wallpaper
"These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome...