Seal missing link found, according to articles in ScienceDaily, Eurekalert and Carnegie Museum of Natural History, 23 April 2009. Scientists from the Carnegie Museum of Natural History and the Canadian Museum of Nature have found a fossil of small otter-like creature they claim is a “missing link in the origin of seals, sea lions, walruses”. Seals, sea lions and walruses are classified as “pinnipeds” and have flippers, rather than feet. The new fossil has been named Puijila darwini . Mary Dawson, curator emeritus of Carnegie Museum of Natural History described it: “The remarkably preserved skeleton of Puijila had heavy limbs, indicative of well developed muscles, and flattened phalanges which suggests that the feet were webbed, but not flippers. This animal was likely adept at both swimming and walking on land. For swimming it paddled with both front and hind limbs. Puijila is the evolutionary evidence we have been lacking for so long.” It had a skull base and teeth similar to living pinnipeds, but had a long tail and forelimbs with similar proportions to living carnivorous land animals, rather than living pinnipeds. The fossil was found in Devon Island, Nunavut, Canada and is dated as 21-24 million years old. Other fossils found in the same site include two types of freshwater fish, one bird and four mammals.
Pinnipeds are believed to have evolved from land dwelling creatures such as bears and weasels. Charles Darwin wrote “A strictly terrestrial animal, by occasionally hunting for food in shallow water, then in streams or lakes, might at last be converted in an animal so thoroughly aquatic as to brace the open ocean.” The museum researchers claim their new fossil confirms this theory.
Editorial Comment: Darwin did not explain how a land dwelling animal “might at last be converted in an animal so thoroughly aquatic as to brace the open ocean” and this fossil does not explain it either. Until the evolutionists can explain how foraging for food in shallow water can change the genes that control the growth and development of legs, stories such as Darwin’s remain just that – stories, not scientific evidence. All that this fossil proves is that an otter-like creature once existed and is now extinct. Extinction is a reminder that the world is going downhill and becoming less complex, just as the Genesis tells us. This is the opposite of evolution. (Ref. palaeontology, mammals)
Evidence News, 28 Oct 2009