Creationists and even some evolutionists recognize natural selection for what it really is - a conservation mechanism that helps prevent species from going extinct by keeping harmful mutations from proliferating in a population. Natural selection and adaptation, which were actually concepts first espoused by creationists, serve as a persuasive case for creative design. To say that natural selection drives evolution and "creates" new, more fit species is indeed one grandiose fairy tale¹!.

   Next Series - Nebraska Man

1. "No one has ever produced a species by mechanisms of natural selection. No one has ever gotten near it and most of the current argument in neo-Darwinism is about this question." - Dr. Colin Patterson, senior paleontologist at the British Museum of Natural History, quote cited in "The Modern Creation Trilogy, Vol II" Henry & John Morris, 1996, p35 [Colin Patterson, "Cladistics", Interview on BBC TV on March 4, 1982].

Felis tailbiscuitus & Gazella clodi

Here we have examples of animals that did not fare well in nature and the selection process. The first picture shows the feline Felis tailbiscuitus, an extinct member of the family Felidae. This species was discovered after scientists found a fossil shaped much like a dog biscuit next to a Canine fossil that dated to prehistoric times. Since scientists know that dog biscuits did not exist in prehistoric times, they immediately realized that the fossil must have belonged to a prehistoric cat, which for obvious reasons can now only be found as a fossil. Scientists believe the Canine population enjoyed a sharp increase during the Felis tailbiscuitus’s brief period of existence.

This next picture is of the oaf gazelle, or Gazella clodi of the family Artiodactyla. This gazelle is an example of punctuated equilibrium¹ that didn’t work. Many years ago a small group of gazelles splintered from the main population, finding a niche in the wild that was free of predators. Over time, the oaf gazelle grew complacent and dawdling. Standing still for long periods of time began to take its toll on the oaf gazelle's hooves, so over many years they developed larger, sturdier hooves. Unfortunately, just as the population was establishing its niche in the wild, a pride of Panthera leo krugeri, commonly known as lions, discovered the oaf gazelle's hiding place, causing extinction of the species in a matter of just a few months. Only one fossil of the oaf gazelle has been found, a 2-foot long hoof.

1. For a brief description of punctuated equilibrium, see footnote 1 on the last page of the Flight Series.

Offshooticus Alces

This "offshoot" of the moose species, the Offshooticus alces, developed an impressive bulls-eye pattern in its antler configuration, enabling it to survive at greater rates against its greatest predator, the homo sapien hunter. The O. alces did quite well against accomplished Homo sapien hunter/marksmen, other than the occasional loss of antler material. Its greatest predator among the homo sapiens has ironically turned out to be the poor shooter, who can occasionally get lucky with an unintentionally low shot. Of course some hunters are not complete rednecks and are not fooled by the antler configuration.

Yet another member of the genus Alces is the Orificicus alces. The special semi-stealth advantage of this moose developed after many years of being pelted by various caliber lead projectiles used by its primary adversary, the Homo sapien hunter. Its survival rate is only slightly greater than the general population due to the increased use of semi-automatic rifles among Homo sapiens. Its best defense still remains its ability to elude slow-footed hunters with single-shot rifles.

The Flat Flounder Squirrel

Prior to the suburbanization of the rural areas, squirrels had little to fear from crossing a road. As time slowly advanced, road usage grew as people moved into and traveled through the area. This increase in traffic began to take its toll, and many squirrels were killed as they scurried across the highways in search for food. As an automobile approached, the squirrel would tend to change direction many times in the middle of the road running back and forth. This hesitation and increased road time on the part of the squirrel would lead to their early demise. Some of the squirrels would not change direction repeatedly but instead run straight for the road’s shoulder, then into the woods. These squirrels tended to be naturally selected to survive and hence produced more offspring. Soon the squirrel population was on the rise again.

As time continued, the squirrels learned to survive on the roads by evolving into a more flattened flounder shape. In this case the squirrels were mimicking a squirrel that had already been flattened by the wheels of automobiles. This new mutating survival tactic was due largely to the fact that drivers tend to swerve around already squashed squirrels. This current mutation presented a new advantage for the species. A flat shaped squirrel would have a higher survival rate, giving it the ability to survive on the highway for longer periods of time.

Excerpted from The Flat Flounder Squirrel, written by Karl Crawford.

Natural Selection

Perhaps the crown jewel of "just-so stories" dreamed up by evolutionists is the idea that mud-to-man evolution is driven by natural selection. Creationists have long pointed out the logical fallacies of this argument. First, natural selection can only work with pre-existing genes, so to expect this process alone to create new information is preposterous. Second, survival of the fittest describes the fittest as those who will leave the most offspring, so since we are left with only the most fit, natural selection as an explanation becomes a tautology.

A handful of evolutionists recognize the logical fallacies associated with natural selection as a driving force of evolution¹. But despite its obvious flaws, most evolutionists still unabashedly wave the magic wand of natural selection as the enabler of molecules-to-man evolution².

Please join me for a quick journey through this fairy land of creative natural selection!

1. "The essence of Darwinism lies in a single phrase: Natural selection is the creative force of evolutionary change. No one denies that selection will play a negative role in eliminating the unfit. Darwinian theories require that it create the fit as well." - Stephen J. Gould, The Return of Hopeful Monsters, Natural History vol 86, June/July 1977, p 28

"What is most unsettling is that some evolutionary biologists have no qualms about proposing tautologies as explanations. One would immediately reject any lexicographer who tried to define a word by the same word, or a thinker who merely restated his proposition, or any other instance of gross redundancy; yet no one seems scandalized that men of science should be satisfied with a major principle which is no more than a tautology." - Gregory Alan Pesely, "The Epistemological Status of Natural Selection", Laval Theologique et Philosophique, vol 38, Feb 1982, p 74.

2. Evolutionist spokesman Richard Dawkins, who recognizes the precariously wishful thinking that random mutations can somehow magically produce new information in the genome, instead tries to hand-wave his readers into believing that someway, somehow, natural selection provides the key role in getting the needed information to the gene pool! See this superb online discussion featuring Dr. Lee Spetner.

They fly in a V-formation!

Researchers showed in a 1970 study published in Science magazine that a flock of 25 birds in a V-formation can fly 70 percent farther than a single bird using the same amount of energy¹. This more than compensates for the 500 mile shortfall of flying solo or out of formation. Flying in the V-formation provides the Golden Plovers an additional 1400 miles of flying range!

Since the lead position at the apex of the formation draws the brunt of the work, the birds share turns at the apex. Flying gets progressively easier the farther back you go in the formation, thus allowing accommodation for the weaker birds.

How can the evolutionist desperate for naturalistic explanations possibly account for the necessity of flying in a V-formation? This strategy must be well known and in place ahead of time before flying off to some far-away place, particularly a land destination as remote and precise as Hawaii. Making matters worse for the conjuring evolutionist is the fact that the parents leave well before their young, so the V-formation strategy is not taught to them but must have instead been pre-programmed in the Golden Plover's brain from the beginning. Moreover, there would be no selection pressure to migrate due to food shortages since there is plenty to eat in Alaska, nor would selection pressure due to the climate be an acceptable explanation because the birds leave long before winter sets in.

Finally, how does the evolutionist explain the amazingly precise flight plan that governs migratory animals over great distances? For example, the Monarch butterfly will migrate 3000 miles often to the same tree of their forefathers!²

So in the end the evolutionists would want us to believe that the complex information required by the Golden Plovers to know how much to eat, how fast to fly, precisely where to fly to, and how to make the best use of its energy supply (via the V-formation), all came about by random mutation and blind selection! But common sense, and Information Theory, demands that this is impossible³. This complex cache of information programmed into the Golden Plovers could have only been established from the beginning by an Intelligent Source (aka The Creator).

Migration is yet another powerful example in a virtually endless list of examples from nature that provides overwhelming testimony of Creative Design. To believe it is the result of naturalistic process is to believe, as we say here, in a fairy tale!

Job 39:26 Does the hawk fly by your wisdom, And spread its wings toward the south?

  Next Series - Natural Selection

1. See http://www.gi.alaska.edu/ScienceForum/ASF12/1248.html

2. See http://monarchwatch.org/tagmig/index.htm

3. A fundamental truth from information theory is that complex information, particularly coded information such as DNA, cannot come into existence outside the presence of already-existing information, or an Information Giver.  Information Scientist Dr. Werner Gitt, who heads the Department of Information Technology at the German Federal Institute of Physics and Technology, has proposed several new universal laws of science, including the following:  1) It is impossible to have information without a sender. 2) It is impossible that information can originate in statistical processes. These fundamental truths of information have been observed countless times over without a single violation. For more information, see In the Beginning was Information, Gitt, Werner, 1997. A good online discussion of the information problem for evolutionists can be found at True.Origins.

OK, so you aren't buying these "explanations". How does the Golden Plover really solve this fuel consumption problem?

Proceed for the answer!

Perhaps long ago our alien friends transported the Golden Plovers first class! Maybe all those years of looking out the window became so incased in their memories that it enabled them to eventually figure out how to do it on their own!

Well, the alien transport is long gone, and now our fine feathered friends must endure fog, rain, and cold when they make their long and tiring journey. Surely they miss the days of old on that wonderful first class flight!

Maybe they had initial help from some intelligent, caring life form, perhaps aliens from outer space! But what good are propeller hats without a good map, or perhaps a gyroscope, or even a decent compass?

The 88-hour journey requires a fuel consumption of 82.2 grams, but their "fuel tank" is only filled up to 70 grams, 12 grams less than what is needed! In other words, The birds would "run out of fuel" about 500 miles short of Hawaii and plunge into the sea!

Why don't our feathered friends plop into the icy ocean water and die short of their destination?

Can evolution provide an answer to this perplexing fuel consumption problem?