Video Introduction In Evolution: the Challenge of the Fossil Record, Dr. Gish compares the fossil record to predictions made by both the evolutionary model and the creation model. Topics include: identifying rocks by their fossils, conditions needed for fossilization, lack of intermediate forms, living fossils and flight.

	A.	Evolutionary model—transitional forms(there should be billions of transitional forms) 1. Microscopic organisms to multicellular organisms to complex invertebrates 2. Invertebrates to fish 3. Fish to amphibians 4. Amphibians to reptiles 5. Reptiles to birds and mammals
	B.	Creation model 1. Abrupt appearance of fully formed plants and animals 2. Variation within kind; no ancestors, no intermediates

A. Cambrian rocks 1. Rocks are identified by what fossils they contain. Index fossils for Cambrian rocks are trilobites or brachiopods. 2. Billions of fossils are found of complex invertebrates in Cambrian rock (such as trilobites, brachiopods, jellyfish and sponges) 3. Conditions for fossilization (uniformitarianism vs. catastrophism) 4. Precambrian rocks have fossils of microscopic single-celled soft-bodied bacteria and algae. So they should also have fossils of any transitional forms from these microscopic organism to the complicated invertebrates found in Cambrian rocks. 5. No ancestor of invertebrates is found in Pre-Cambrian rock B. Invertebrate to fish—over a supposed 100 million years of evolution, there is not one example of in intermediate between invertebrates and fish C. Fish to amphibian 1. Fins to feet and legs a. Coelacanth—has bony fins, but is a fish b. "First" amphibian—is fully amphibian—feet, legs, large pelvic bone. Pelvic bone of fish is small; it does not need to support body weight. 2. Chicago Natural History Museum display—drawing with caption, "intermediate inferred." This is not science. It is artistic license. 3. Coelacanth—Believed to have evolved 400 million years ago. Since no Coelacanth fossils were found in rock "younger" than 70 million years old, it was believed to died out at that time, until Coelacanths were found alive in 1938. D. Reptiles—land and marine 1. Marine reptiles (one example is the Plesiosaur)—no intermediate forms of reptiles developing paddles 2. No intermediate forms of land reptiles forming from amphibians E. Reptiles to mammals; land mammals to marine mammals 1. Cow to whale; Basilosaur, originally classified as a reptile 2. Duck-billed platypus—A mosaic, it has characteristics of reptiles, birds and mammals. It can neither be a descendant nor an ancestor of any of them. F. Flight 1. Insects a. Flying—dragonfly fossils supposedly 380 million years old same as modern b. Non-flying—ants, cockroaches, psuedo-scorpions (390 million years old) same as modern c. No intermediate fossils between non-flying and flying insects, though there are many fossilized flying and many fossilized non-flying insects fossilized 2. Flying reptiles—long fourth finger supporting wing membrane (up to 54 ft) a. Supposed evolution—gradual elongation of fourth finger by mutation and formation of muscles and membrane b. Intermediate stage never found 3. Bat—wing membrane supported by long fingers; sonar system a. Oldest known bat ("50 million years") same as modern b. No intermediate stage or ancestor; no change in last 50 million years 4. Birds—Archaeopteryx (supposedly 150 million years old) had feathers, teeth, claws on wings, long, bony tail a. Archaeopteryx was a bird i. It had the basic form and pattern of the avian wing ii. It had feathers identical to the feathers of modern birds iii. Feathers are a complicated structure, very different from scales iv. Feathers develop differently from scales v. It had a furcula, or wishbone b. Teeth, claws on wings and a long bony tail do not necessitate a reptilian ancestry. i. Some other fossil birds also had teeth ii. Species with teeth and species without teeth are found among fish, amphibians, reptiles and mammals iii. Some modern birds, such as the juvenile Hoatzin and the ostrich, have claws c. A fully formed bird was found in a layer that was supposedly 225 million years old (75 million years older than Archaeopteryx) yet it is more bird like than Archaeopteryx, not more reptile like.

	A.	Evolutionary Botanist E. J. H. Corner—"to the unprejudiced, the fossil record of plants is in favor of special creation."
	B.	Paleontologist Colin Patterson of the British Museum of Natural History—"I fully agree with your comments on the lack of direct illustration of evolutionary transitions in my book. If I knew of any, fossil or living, I would certainly have included them."