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With the 200th anniversary of the birth of Charles Darwin this workweek , mass around the world are lionize his role as the sire of evolutionary theory . Events and crush release are pitch , in part , to combat false claims made by some who would discredit the hypothesis .
One frequently cited " hole " in the hypothesis : Creationists lay claim there are no transitional dodo , aka missing links . Biologists and fossilist , among others , know this title is false .
Nichollsia borealis on display at the Royal Tyrrell Museum in Drumheller, Alberta. This plesiosaur swam in the Cretaceous seas over what is now part of North America.
As key grounds for organic evolution and species ' gradual change over clip , transitional animal should resemble intermediate species , having skeletal and other body features in common with two distinct groups of animals , such as reptiles and mammals , or fish and amphibians .
These animals vocalize groundless , but the fossil record — which is far from complete — is full of them nonetheless , as document by Occidental College geologist Donald Prothero in his book " Evolution : What the Fossils Say and Why It Matters " ( Columbia University Press , 2007 ) . Prothero discussed those fogy last month at the American Museum of Natural History in New York , along with transitional fossils that were foretell since the leger was published , including the " fishibian " and the " frogamander . "
At least hundred , maybe thou , of transitional fogey have been found so far by research worker . The exact count is unclear because some lineages of organism are endlessly evolving .
Here is a unforesightful list of transitional fossil documented by Prothero and that add to the mountain of evidence for Charles Darwin ’s hypothesis . A lot of us concern most to fossils of life history closely connect to humans , so the tilt focuses on mammal and other vertebrate , including dinosaurs .
mammal , including us
Dinosaurs and birds
Fish , frogs , turtles
