Interview with Dr. Carl Werner Living Fossils

[LithodidMan]

"All of the major crustacean groups..." Wow, I am not sure if he believes this or is simply unaware of how diverse the Crustacea really are. The majority of modern decapod groups are Tertiary in origin, with a few scattered groups (mostly representing extinct lineages) known from earlier. For example, every one of the "fossil crayfish" or lobsters these guys show are actually Eryonids, an extinct group not closely related to either but VERY superficially resembling them.

[JohnHalladay1]

although evolution predicts that species CAN change, it does not REQUIRE that species must change.

"These anomalous forms may almost be called living fossils; they have endured to the present day, from having inhabited a confined area, and from having thus been exposed to less severe competition." - Charles Darwin

You are misinterpreting evolution to suit your own needs. No evolutionary scientist insists that all species HAVE to change, only that they can and do. Some change slower thanothers.

[ThomasWinkworth]

@JohnHalladay1 Hm, please explain why!

The only reason an organism would ever stop developing & thus changing would be because it lacks selective pressure.

But that would mean that all of the living fossils must have been so adapted to thier environments that not a single morphological change could have benefited them.

Considering some of the living fossils are 400 million years old, and the time limit that evolution has... i find the idea of 400 millions years old completely ridiculous..

[webbrino]

Awesome!