Palaeontologists in Wales have found a deposit very well preserved fossils described as “a highly diverse Middle Ordovician Burgess Shale-type fauna”. The fossil deposit is dated as 462 million years, over 20 million years after the Cambrian period in the evolutionary timetable.
The fossils include some well-known Cambrian creatures that are now extinct, as well as some creatures that are still living, including crustaceans, barnacles, horseshoe crabs, sponges, starfish, and worms.
The research team who studied the fossils claim the fossil deposit “provides a new perspective on early animal evolution, revealing the next chapter in ecosystem development following the Chengjiang, Burgess Shale and Fezouata biotas.”
References: Science (AAAS) News 1 May 2023; Live Science 3 May 2023; Nature Ecology & Evolution 1 May 2023, doi: 10.1038/s41559-023-02038-4
Editorial Comment: This wonderful deposit of exquisitely preserved creatures tells us nothing about how anything evolved. They are all distinct, fully formed creatures, many of which have died out, while others have continued to live and reproduce after their kinds.
This fossil report is a good opportunity to remind people that the terms Cambrian and Ordovician have nothing to do with millions of years. The name Cambrian refers to an old Roman name for Wales. Ordovician refers to the name of a Celtic tribe, Ordovices who lived in North West Wales.
The same applies to the next layer up in the evolutionary geological column, Silurian, which is named after the Silures who lived in southern Wales. In fact, the names in the geological column originally had nothing to do with ages. They were descriptive terms referring to places where rock with particular fossils were first studied, e.g. Jura mountains for Jurassic, Devon UK for Devonian, Perm in Russia for Permian; or they were descriptions of characteristics of the rocks, e.g. Cretaceous for chalky rocks, Triassic for three colour rocks, Carboniferous for rocks with lots of black coal. The millions of years were imposed on these names when the disciples of Darwin and Lyell took over the classification of rocks and fossil layers.
The fossil bed described above is also another reminder that the fossil record is really a record of death and loss, and confirms the Biblical history of the world that started out very good, filled with wonderful life, but has been devastated due to human sin and God’s judgement.
Creation Research News, 30 May 2023
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