Evolution
Category archives for Evolution
If a spider is in an Oreo Cookie, then evolution is true!
Posted by Greg Laden on March 14, 2013 
You know about the Atheists Nightmare, right? Also known as the Evolutionists Nightmare. No? It goes like this: That’s pretty darn convincing. Until someone opens up some closed thing and there is some new species in there, then EVOLUTION IS MADE UP!!!1!!! Well, it turns out, Evolution is True. Some guy on the internet opened…
New Evidence that the Bible is Wrong on Evolution
Posted by Greg Laden on November 27, 2012 I find the following bit of video to be very interesting. The letter itself, which they read at the beginning, is instructive of why many people are creationists or otherwise anti-science. They are afraid to go to hell. The idea that a person will go to hell for believing in science is something you have…
A Remarkable Convergence of Species: The Deadliest Sea Snake
Posted by Greg Laden on November 18, 2012 
Sea snakes are true snakes that look a little like eels because of their horizontally flattened rudder-like tails, and they spend a lot of time…for most species, their entire lives…in the ocean. Only one species seems to be able to move on land at all. They seem to all be venomous, some extremely so. They…
The Rocks Don’t Lie (geology and flood myths)
Posted by Greg Laden on June 20, 2012 
The Rocks Don’t Lie: A Geologist Investigates Noah’s Flood by David Montgomery is new book on the Noachian flood. It is by a real life geologist and is not a creationist book. Might be a good gift for your annoying creationist relative. Here is a write-up from the publisher: In Tibet, geologist David R. Montgomery…
Comments on Zimmer’s “Can A Scientist Define Life?
Posted by Greg Laden on January 11, 2012 Imagine a “primordial soup” on some planet somewhere from which there occasionally emerges a thing that could locomote, and as it locomoted around it would scrape up some of the dust that lay around on the planet, and occasionally eat other things that had come out of the “primordial soup” and it would thus grow.…
Interesting Intelligent Design and Evolution Spat Going On
Posted by Greg Laden on January 8, 2012 Mike Haubrich, of Tangled Up in Blue Guy blog, has documented a discussion between a biologist, a commenter, and the Discovery Institute (a creationist “think” tank). No apes were harmed during this incident, but one of them may be rather embarrassed. It’s quite intresting, have a look: Cornelius Godsplains Science to a Scientist
Evolution Surrounded By Creationism? Arm Yourself with Books!
Posted by Greg Laden on October 26, 2011 Suppose you are an intelligent, thoughtful person with a thirst for information, a desire to be challenged, and a tendency to not accept received knowledge at face value. You are embedded in a traditional Christian culture where most of your family, your child’s teachers and friends and those friends’ families, the people where you and…
Is the origin of life different from evolution?
Posted by Greg Laden on June 28, 2011 I heard it said recently that “Evolution” and “Origin of life” are two separate issues. I know that this is a falsehood, and I’ll discuss in a moment how and why it is not true. But first, I checked around with a few people that I know and love, and found out that some of…
Michele Bachmann on Evolution and Science
Posted by Greg Laden on June 27, 2011 She’s running for president, so this is important.
Are The Miss USA Contestants more Pro Evolution than the United States Senate?
Posted by Greg Laden on June 22, 2011 There’s been a fair amount of talk about the Miss USA interview question “should evolution be taught in schools,” and a fair amount of attention given to the answers provided by the contestants. For the most part, people have gotten mad at these women because they are both beautiful in a classic patriarchal-normative-way and are…
“If You Love Evolution, Tweet About It!” COE # 36
Posted by Greg Laden on June 1, 2011 Welcome to the Thirty Sixth Carnival of Evolution. The world of blog carnivals is in a state of flux and uncertainty these days, with the distinct possibility of a mass extinction just around the corner. One of the oldest, longest running, and most important carnivals, I and the Bird, issued its last issue only a…
Universal remotes, evolution, sex, and sight
Posted by Greg Laden on May 6, 2011 So Amanda had this TV. It had a remote. The remote sucked. It was broken. Then I moved in and with me came a universal remote. Lucky Amanda. I programmed the universal remote (a Radioshack 5 in 1) to handle the TV as well as a DVD player and a stereo. The remote handled everything.…
Happy Birthday Clarence Darrow
Posted by Greg Laden on April 18, 2011 Darrow was born this day in 1857. He was a lawyer and a prominent member of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). We know him as the defender of John Scopes in the Monkey Trial of 1925. Darrow and Scopes lost that trial, which was the first of many court cases regarding the teaching of…
The Hopeful Monster Theory Returns Triumphant
Posted by Greg Laden on April 2, 2011 Most evolutionary biologist have fully rejected the “hopeful monster theory” but it turns out they were wrong to do so. Most mutations are deleterious, and are quickly weeded out of a population but in some cases not before they briefly cause hideous results that make everyone turn away in horror and disgust. But sometimes a…
Lester Park Stromatolites
Posted by Greg Laden on March 29, 2011 Some years ago, I was asked by a friend to accompany him on a visit to a site in Saratoga Springs, New York, where we were to witness the activities of a gen-u-wine geomancer. I had never heard of a geomancer before. If you don’t know what one is, be happy. If you do, you…
How old is the earth, and how do we know?
Posted by Greg Laden on February 26, 2011 How old is the earth? Short answer: 4,540,000,00/H30 Earth-years, plus or minus 1%. Long answer: We don’t know exactly because direct dating of the earliest material on the surface of the Earth will only tell use a minimum age; Prior to that, the Earth’s surface was probably molten, and even after that, it may be…
What is meant by “mosaic evolution” and other matters
Posted by Greg Laden on January 3, 2011 A discussion of misconceptions in evolution … about missing links, or great chains of being, or teleology (the idea that evolution is goal-directed) has got to be the most fun you can have with your pants on. Pursuant to this, let’s sharpen and clarify our evolutionary theory mojo by considering the concept of “mosaic evolution”…
Falsehood: Is it ever OK to use the term “Missing Link”?
Posted by Greg Laden on December 30, 2010 Today’s falsehood1 is the idea of “The Missing Link.” You’ve heard about The Missing Link. You’ll hear that some palaeontologist has discovered something and they tell us it is “The Missing Link.” Often, it is a supposed “link” between some ancestor of humans (a fossil ape, a monkey, whatever) and us humans. And often, you’ll…
NASA’s new organism, the meaning of life, and Darwin’s Second Theory
Posted by Greg Laden on December 2, 2010 In his highly readable book, One Long Argument, Ernst Mayr breaks down the body of thought often referred to as “Darwin’s Theory” into five separate and distinct theories, the second of which being “common descent.” Darwin’s second evolutionary theory (second by Mayr’s count, not Darwin’s) is really a hypothesis that could be worded this way:…
A Whale of a Missing Link : Indohyus
Posted by Greg Laden on October 30, 2010 I’m writing something about the concept of “The Missing Link” which may also end up as an episode of “Everything you Know is Sort of Wrong” on Skeptically Speaking. The fact that I’m working on this is of no interest to you, I’m sure, until I actually finish it and post it. But, in the…
Why do women shop and men hunt?
Posted by Greg Laden on October 12, 2010 Or, when the hunting season is closed, watch teh game (the guys), or when there are no sales, admire each other’s shoes (the gals)? This is, of course, a parody of the sociobiological, or in modern parlance, the “evolutionary psychology” argument linking behaviors that evolved in our species during the long slog known as The…
Teachers Under Fire!!!
Posted by Greg Laden on September 21, 2010 It is very common, across the U.S., for science teachers to dread the “evolution” unit that they teach during life science class. As they approach the day, and start to prepare the students for what is coming, they begin to hear the sarcastic remarks from the creationist students. When the day to engage the evolution…
McLean vs. Arkansas 20 Years Later: Part III – Gould speaks!
Posted by Greg Laden on August 25, 2010 Natural Selection vs. Opportunity in Macroevolutionary Patterning of the Fossil Record
Posted by Greg Laden on August 25, 2010 I’m going to talk about one or two peer reviewed papers, but in doing so, I’m going to have to say a few words … and this will not be pretty … about a certain science writer’s report at the BBC. In an article titled “Space is the final frontier for evolution, study claims” BBC…
Bringing Science to Kids with Song
Posted by Greg Laden on August 13, 2010 Money Harper is a musician who has put to song several actual research projects of University of Oklahoma scientists. He’s raising money to finish the project. Maybe you can help him out. Either way, it is an interesting story, and I’m sure you are going to want a copy of the CD.
New Primate Fossil Informs Us of the Ape-Monkey Split During the Oligocene
Posted by Greg Laden on August 11, 2010 The newly reported Saadanius hijazensis may or may not be a “missing link” but in order for this monkey to climb onto the primate family tree, a new branch had to be sprouted. So, not only is Saadanius hijazensis a new species, but it is a member of a new taxonomic Family, Saadaniidae, which in…
Triassic Life on Land: I love this book
Posted by Greg Laden on July 28, 2010 The Triassic is old. This book is new. That is a hard to beat combination.
The Oystercatcher and the Clam
Posted by Greg Laden on July 10, 2010 One of those really cool and useful “evolution stories” gets verified and illuminated by actual research. And blogging!
Don Prothero is a Skeptic
Posted by Greg Laden on January 27, 2010 Hat tip: Monicks
Reflections on the Origin of Species
Posted by Greg Laden on November 24, 2009 The The Origin Of Species by Charles Darwin was published 150 years go as I write this. At the time, several different alternative theories of the origin and history of life were being discussed in the West. Some of these theories were theological. Theological ideas included a literal translation of the bible, with the flora,…
, which is now available for the 
