MIKADEMUS's blog: "REFLECTIONS OF A LYCANTHROPE"

When Charles Darwin first postulated his theory about evolution in " The Origin Of The Species " one major problem that contradicted his theory was the fossil record from the Cambrian Period. According to his theory of evolution all living animals should eventually be able to trace their evolutionary origin back to a "Progenitor" species which would form a tree like structure starting from the Cambrian Period until now which would branch out into all the complex diversity of life as we know it today. What in fact showed in the Cambrian fossil record in Darwin's day was the sudden appearance of no less than thirty phylas within a five to ten million year period, about five hundred and twenty million years ago, complete with skeletal form. Darwin was all too aware of this glaring contradiction which essentially turned his evolutionary tree upside down making it broad at the Cambrian Base and tapering down as it enters the Ordovician Period. He hoped that in the future, fossil collectors would resolve his problem but after one hundred and fifty years the fossil evidence has made the problem more acute making his theory less plausible. For all of the thirty major Phyla at the beginning of the Cambrian Period there should be a whole network of less complex creatures preceding it in the Ediacaran Rock Strata, but there is not. An argument for this is called " The Artifact Theory " whereby most stratas are not suitable for the preservation of soft tissued animals but in China an area has been found where Embryonic Sponges are preserved in the rock preceding the Cambrian Strata but no other Phylas are present so the question remains where are the fossils of the Progenitor Species ? Another theory to explain the missing fossil record is the "Hox Gene Theory " which involves very specialized genes that when activated cause extremely rapid mutation and drift in species suggesting that within a very short amount of time all these Phylas appeared. The problem for advocates of this theory is that Hox Genes are only known to be activated after a species is developed so the Cambrian fossil record remains one of the greatest mysteries for the emergence of life here on Earth."How did all these animals come into being ?" It does make for an interesting argument for a theory of intervention by what would be relative to us a very ancient "Alien Civilization" almost "God Like" for their level of development thereby making the Earth one of the largest petri dishes around. Perhaps we're all being cultured and put on a microscopic slide for some alien scientist's "Research Project". If that be the case I would love to be the "Fly On The Wall" when He, She....It? releases its findings in their equivalent of "Scientific Journal" for peer review. " I'm sure the findings will be glowing. " :-) -the man of pech merle.