An article at Phys.Org caught my attention because it attempted to address one of evolutions biggest problems- the Cambrian explosion- also called Darwin’s Big Bang. The Cambrian explosion supposedly began around 600 million years ago, ended about 500 million years ago, and is represented by nearly all the different animal phyla and their basic body plans. These animals appeared abruptly and without any transitional forms, so it’s been a mystery for evolutionists trying to figure out how these animals appeared out of nowhere.

The study, led by University of Adelaide researchers, estimated for the first time the rates of evolution during the Cambrian explosion, and their findings supposedly resolve Darwin’s Dilemma- the sudden appearance of modern animal groups in the fossil record.

Associate Professor and lead author Michael Lee of the University of Adelaide said, “The abrupt appearance of dozens of animal groups during this time is arguably the most important evolutionary event after the origin of life.” He then reveals one of the main issues surrounding this dilemma: “These seemingly impossibly fast rates of evolution implied by this Cambrian explosion have long been exploited by opponents of evolution. Darwin himself famously considered that this was at odds with the normal evolutionary processes.”

Yes, it’s true. Opponents of evolution have exploited these “seemingly impossibly fast rates of evolution,” and that’s because it stretches credulity. According to Darwin, animals would have gradually evolved from a common body design, so we should expect to find fossils supporting this. But instead we see just the opposite of what was expected, and even though the researchers understand how impossibly fast these rates are, they have now come to terms with it because they’re able rationalize it despite the absurdity.

Lee also brings attention to the imperfection of the fossil record- another problem for evolutionists. He states, “because of the notorious imperfection of the ancient fossil record, no-one has been able to accurately measure rates of evolution during this critical interval, often called evolution’s Big Bang.”

The fossil record is considered imperfect because it doesn’t contain the transitional forms needed to demonstrate evolution. Of course we wouldn’t expect all organisms to be fossilized, but it’s interesting that the necessary transitional forms don’t exist. Needless to say, if evolution can’t be observed in the fossil record, and if Darwinian evolution has never occurred, then this would explain why animals appear suddenly (due to the Flood), and it would also explain why there’s a lack of supposed transitional forms (because animals were created to reproduce after their kind).

Lee explains the study further: “we’ve estimated that rates of both morphological and genetic evolution during the Cambrian explosion were five times faster than today – quite rapid, but perfectly consistent with Darwin’s theory of evolution.”

I’m not sure how “quite rapid” is perfectly consistent with Darwin’s theory of evolution which requires gradual change over time. Are we supposed to accept that declaration by faith? And how did they estimate these supposed rates of evolution? It seems they made a number of assumptions to help them out. They “quantified the anatomical and genetic differences between living animals, and established a timeframe over which those differences accumulated with the help of the fossil record and intricate mathematical models.” So the imperfection of the fossil record no longer seems to be of any concern.

In order to support their belief in evolution they assumed that the living animals evolved, and that the differences assumed to have accumulated support the sudden appearance of animals in the fossil record with “moderately accelerated evolution.” Of course the study never considered whether evolution occurred at all. Therefore the appearance of these animals only “seems” to be sudden, but really isn’t.

This research will surely serve the evolutionary community, but problems still remain. Evolution must be assumed in order to demonstrate evolution- even when the evidence is seemingly insurmountable. The fossil record still remains incomplete. And the rate of evolution is clearly accelerated, but declared to be consistent. Their estimates also imply that the rates could be even faster, but that doesn’t appear to be a concern.

I also find it interesting that these same evolutionists touting rapid evolution are critical of creationists claiming that animals diversified rapidly after they exited Noah’s Ark. At that time the world would have been completely uninhabited with new environments for these animals to exploit, so it’s quite reasonable that animals would have diversified quickly with their existing genetic blueprints. But animals without a genetic blueprint somehow evolved new traits very quickly according to these researchers. I think it’s much more reasonable, consistent and simpler to believe that animals were created by God to reproduce after their kind (Genesis 1:20-25).