"Mammal, Mammal"

"Their names are called, they raise a paw - the bat, the cat, dolphin and dog, koala bear and hog"
-They Might Be Giants

I don't know what inspired me to do it. After all, I had decided that since I had a grip on the evolution/creation thing, that I wasn't going to bother with it for a while. Randomly, it seems, I was reading the 'talk origins' evidence for evolution stuff. They like to use words like "clearly" and "obviously" when it is no such thing - but that isn't the point. I saw that a Dr. Gish was quoted as saying that there were no transitional forms between cows and whales, and then those transitional forms were miraculously discovered in the next few months. As this was an argument I was familiar with, I wanted to see these transitional forms.

I'm busy, so I only looked at one. It is in the October, 2001 issue of Nature, and is the partially (well, mostly, really) complete fossil found in Jamaica. I looked at the drawing on the Talk Origins site and noticed which parts were 'extrapolated' - meaning that they were not actually found, but the fellows in charge of the find think that they make sense. I looked at it and thought, "The feet and the tail are extrapolated? Wouldn't they be pretty important to the argument?" It brought to mind Lucy's feet and hands, which are also 'extrapolated' in their museum display, and also are important to the conclusion. Here's a neat article about how Dr. Zihlman (an evolutionist) thinks that Lucy is not what she is purported to be. That's not the subject of the article, just an aside in the last section. Zihlman still thinks we came from monkeys (gross generalization, but you get it), but that Lucy is probably a compilation of different species - plus some bonus material! Note: The fact that Lucy may be a pygmy chimp does not invalidate the basic argument

Then I looked up some hippo bones. Because this 'transitional form' was found on tiny Jamaica, I'd want a small hippo. Thankfully, the Madagascar pygmy hippo (extinct) was available, though it was larger - just like Madagascar is a lot larger than Jamaica.

What are the major differences between the pygmy hippo and the 'transitional cow/whale'? Feet and tail. Now, there are certainly some differences in the skull - but as I watched the UK game last night, I noticed that Shagari Alleyne (7'3" black man) had a skull that is significantly different than mine. In fact, it's a lot different than the guy he is stuffing in that pic!

As I am a college faculty member, I have access to online journals, and was able to read the entirety of the description and subsequent conclusions of this cow/whale. The evidence that this critter swam like any manatee is essentially non-existent, but claimed to be 'likely'. The claim is that it swam like an otter, although the bone structures in the rear are much more different than the hippo would be with the cow/whale.

Look, I don't have the level of knowledge of Ken Hamm, but this thing looks like a little hippo - the kind that would live on a little island.

The fossil record remains evolution's best proof - and its weakest link. I'm sticking to UK hoops. What a game last night!