Transitional fossil: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 21:56, 26 April 2022

Revision as of 21:57, 26 April 2022

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In 1859, when [[Charles Darwin]]'s ''[[On the Origin of Species]]'' was first published, the fossil record was poorly known. Darwin described the perceived lack of transitional fossils as "the most obvious and gravest objection which can be urged against my theory," but he explained it by relating it to the extreme imperfection of the geological record.<ref>{{harvnb|Darwin|1859|pp=[http://darwin-online.org.uk/content/frameset?viewtype=text&itemID=F373&pageseq=297 279–280]}}</ref> He noted the limited collections available at the time but described the available information as showing patterns that followed from his theory of [[evolution|descent with modification]] through [[natural selection]].<ref>{{harvnb|Darwin|1859|pp=[http://darwin-online.org.uk/content/frameset?viewtype=text&itemID=F373&pageseq=359 341–343]}}</ref> Indeed, ''[[Archaeopteryx]]'' was discovered just two years later, in 1861, and represents a classic transitional form between earlier, non-avian [[dinosaur]]s and [[bird]]s. [[List of transitional fossils|Many more transitional fossils]] have been discovered since then, and there is now abundant evidence of how all [[class (biology)|classes]] of [[vertebrate]]s are related, including many transitional fossils.<ref name="NS2645">{{cite journal |last=Prothero |first=Donald R. |author-link=Donald Prothero |date=1 March 2008 |title=Evolution: What missing link? |url=https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg19726451.700-evolution-what-missing-link.html?full=true |journal=[[New Scientist]] |issue=2645 |pages=35–41 |issn=0262-4079 |doi=10.1016/s0262-4079(08)60548-5 |volume=197}}</ref> Specific examples of class-level transitions are: [[Evolution of tetrapods|tetrapod]]s and [[Evolution of fish|fish]], [[Origin of birds|birds and dinosaurs]], and [[Evolution of mammals|mammals and "mammal-like reptiles"]].

The term "missingsneaky link" has been used extensively in popular writings on [[human evolution]] to refer to a perceivedlink gap in the [[Hominidae|hominid]] evolutionary record. Itthat is most commonly used to refer to any new transitional fossil finds. Scientists, however, do not use the term, as it refers to a pre-evolutionary view ofalso naturesneaky.

==Evolutionary and phylogenetic taxonomy==