living fossils. A "living fossil" is an organism that is thought to have
been extinct, and then it shows up alive on planet earth.
The claim by young earth creationists is that these living fossils are
proof that the earth is young. The reasoning is that since all organisms
were alive only 4,300 years ago, before the time that they date the
Flood of Noah, then it is reasonable to assume that they are st...
No doubt you have heard the claims from young earth creationists about
living fossils. A "living fossil" is an organism that is thought to have
been extinct, and then it shows up alive on planet earth.
The claim by young earth creationists is that these living fossils are
proof that the earth is young. The reasoning is that since all organisms
were alive only 4,300 years ago, before the time that they date the
Flood of Noah, then it is reasonable to assume that they are still alive
today.
I'm sure everyone is aware of the most famous living fossil, the
coelacanth, the fish thought to be extinct 65 million years ago. In
1938, a specimen was caught off the coast of South Africa, and since
then several more have been caught and examined. Besides the coelacanth,
Answers in Genesis gives several examples in the articles linked above.
Determining an Organism's Life Span
How is a fossil's life range is determined? When an organism is found in
the fossil record, paleontologists look for the oldest and youngest
specimen to determine it's life range. For example, if the oldest
specimen of a species of dinosaur is in a rock formation dated during
the Berrasian Age of the early Cretaceous, then the earliest this
dinosaur existed is about 140 million years ago (140 Ma). If the
youngest example of this same species is from the Turonian Age of the
Late Cretaceous, then it died out about 90 million years ago. Thus, the
dinosaur is said to have lived from 140 to 90 Ma.
After this date range is published, another sample of this dinosaur is
unearthed in a rock bed dated to the Santonian Age of the Late
Cretaceous. Does this mean the earlier dates were wrong...obviously. But
the wrong dates were not based on guesswork, but on a lack of complete
evidence. Now, this dinosaur's lifespan is said to be from 140 to 84 Ma.
Scientists make this kind of adjustment all the time. New fossils are
found, extending the known lifespan of the organism because of new
fossil discoveries.
There is no trick or deception on the part of the scientist...he/she is
merely interpreting the available evidence to reach a conclusion.
What happens when a fossil species is found to be alive, such as the
coelacanth? It's known lifespan is extended...that's it! It doesn't'
mean the earth is young, it doesn't even provide good evidence for a
young earth. For the coelacanth, its lifespan was extended from 400-65
million years ago to 400 Ma to the present. Nothing further can be
implied from this data.
In the case of our dinosaur, if it was found alive today, naturally the
young earth creationists would claim it is a living fossil. The real
scientific world would merely adjust its lifespan to 140 Ma to the
present. There would be no panic in the scientific world...they would
not wonder if the earth really is only 6,000 years old. The rest of the
evidence clearly indicates an old earth, and one living dino would not
contradict that.
The presence of a living fossil in no way is evidence for a young earth.
Yes, there are fossils that occasionally turn up living, but there are
millions more which are long gone, which went extinct millions of years
ago, and there is no evidence they are alive today. Therefore, we have
millions of extinct species, and a handful of so-called "living fossils"
which have a gap of millions of years in the fossil record. The evidence
strongly supports millions of years of extinction, and an old earth.
When a "living fossil" is found, YECs naturally jump on it and proclaim
it as proof of a young earth. However, when they grasp at this one straw
and bring attention to it, they are ignoring the 50 foot tall haystack
from where it came from.
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