In this blog post, we examine whether living fossils can actually serve as evidence refuting the theory of evolution, or if they are instead grounds supporting it.
Living fossils refer to species that possess a similar appearance to ancient organisms and currently have no known living relatives. Such living fossils are often used by creationists as evidence that the theory of evolution is wrong. For example, they argue that since the ginkgo tree or the cockroach look identical to their fossilized forms, evolution did not occur. But are living fossils truly evidence that the theory of evolution is wrong? To state the conclusion first, this is a completely false claim. Let’s now examine the reasons why.
The claim that living fossils disprove evolution contains three major errors. First, evolution is not a law that requires change to occur. Those making this flawed argument often mistakenly equate evolution with a linear progression starting from single-celled amoebas, through fish, amphibians, reptiles, and mammals, culminating in humans. This leads to the misguided question, ‘When will monkeys become humans?’ However, this stems from a major misunderstanding of evolutionary theory. According to evolutionary theory, all current species are the result of over 3 billion years of evolution from a common ancestor of life on Earth. In other words, all current species have evolved equally over the same period of time. E. coli, lizards, and cats have all evolved for the same amount of time. So why haven’t they become human? This is because evolutionary theory does not posit that all species change to ultimately become human. Evolutionary theory contains no law stating that species must change toward a specific goal. However, since life began with the simplest forms, subsequent changes typically tend toward larger and more complex forms. Most species evolve in directions favorable for survival, influenced by environmental factors like terrain, climate, and predator-prey relationships. The crucial point is that species adapt to their environment, changing into forms advantageous for survival. Conversely, this means that if a change is not beneficial or even detrimental to survival, the species may not change at all. Therefore, species inhabiting environments with minimal change, like the deep sea, or species whose current form is highly advantageous for survival, can remain virtually unchanged over long periods. Examples include deep-sea coelacanths or cockroaches, which are extremely well-adapted for survival. The existence of such living fossils can be fully explained by evolutionary theory.
The second reason is that living fossils cannot be judged as identical to ancient species. Those who deny evolution believe living fossils undermine evolutionary theory and actively seek them out. Indeed, the book ‘Atlas of Creation’ by creationist Harun Yahya mentions living fossils in a staggering 1,397 entries. They argue that organisms maintaining their appearance unchanged over long periods proves they are unchanging and that evolution did not occur. However, not a single living fossil species can be definitively declared to have truly not evolved. This is because fossils can only show the external appearance of ancient organisms. Fossils alone cannot reveal the organism’s genes, biochemical systems, or immune responses. Therefore, even living fossils that resemble ancient species externally cannot be confidently deemed unchanged in aspects unobservable by appearance. In fact, it is harder for no change to occur at the genetic level. It is widely known that errors in DNA replication cause changes in DNA within just one generation. Moreover, species called living fossils are often forcibly grouped as the same species solely because of their similar appearance. In reality, they have evolved into quite diverse forms. For example, cockroaches have evolved into various sizes and shapes, with over 4,000 species existing today, significantly different from ancient giant cockroach species. They have also become significantly smaller in size, and modern cockroach species have undergone more complex changes in appearance.
Finally, the vast majority of organisms found in fossils no longer exist today. Simply put, with the exception of a tiny minority of living fossils, most ancient species preserved as fossils are extinct. This poses a significant problem for creationists, who consistently ignore this fact. Furthermore, the reason why living fossils are so desperately sought to disprove evolution is precisely because they are difficult to find. Those opposing evolution argue that all species were created unchanged and have persisted to the present. They also believe fossils were formed all at once by a great flood approximately 4,000 years ago. This raises a question: how many species were actually extinct due to this flood? According to their argument, since Noah saved every species in pairs on the ark, preventing extinction, the conclusion is that no species went extinct. Then how can we explain the fossilized organisms that are no longer alive today? The more creationists claim living fossils disprove evolution, the more they end up highlighting species that exist only as fossils, thereby weakening their own logic. Currently, the only theory that can explain the tiny number of living fossils and the vast majority of species seen only as fossils is evolutionary theory.
Through the three points above, we have confirmed that living fossils cannot serve as evidence refuting evolutionary theory; rather, they can serve as evidence supporting it. Furthermore, we can see that the evolutionary perspective on living fossils is more plausible than the creationist perspective. However, this evidence alone cannot definitively prove that evolution is ‘right’ or ‘wrong’. This is because neither evolution nor its opposing view can be universally observed or experimentally verified. Indeed, unless a time machine is invented, we cannot precisely know how the existence of living fossils came to be. Nevertheless, it remains undeniable that, to date, evolutionary theory is the most plausible and scientific explanation. Although evolutionary theory currently relies on uncertain factors like chance or natural selection, over time, it will likely provide a clear explanation for all evolutionary phenomena in living organisms, including living fossils.
