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The Evolution of Plants: a Major Problems for Darwinism — Bergman Papers

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The Evolution of Plants: a Major Problems for Darwinism — Bergman Papers Papers pollen must penetrate in order to fertilize the seed.22 The evolution of Angiosperms, in turn, are divided into monocotyledons (plants with seeds that have one cotyledon such as grains, grasses, and certain flowers, including orchids and lilies), plants: and dicotyledons (plants with seeds with two cotyledons, which includes most angiosperms). Went concludes that a major problem botanists have used a seemingly insignificant character— viz., the number of seedling leaves (cotyledons)—to classify the estimated 250,000 types of flowering plants. for Darwinism Categorizing the 300 different groups of flowering plants Jerry Bergman into families is enormously difficult because the ‘ … individual species are so numerous that they A major problem for Neo-Darwinism is the complete have never yet been listed in any one book, or even lack of evidence for plant evolution in the fossil re- in one series of books. Such a listing would have cord. As a whole, the fossil evidence of prehistoric to describe about a quarter million known plants; to plants is actually very good, yet no convincing tran- compile it, all the taxonomic botanists in the world sitional forms have been discovered in the abundant would have to work together for years and years, plant fossil record. This fact has been recognized and the finished product would have perhaps half a million pages, enough to cover a whole wall in a by both creationists and evolutionists as providing 23 strong evidence for abrupt appearance theory. If library.’ The basic groups for which Darwinists must macroevolution were true, some evidence of plant 24 evolution should exist in the abundant plant fossil demonstrate the existence of transitional forms include: record. Instead, what is found are many examples of modern plants, variations of modern plants, or Kingdom Protoctista extinct plants that require still more transitional Subkingdom: Phycobionta - Algae forms. Division: Chrysophyta - Golden-brown Algae Division: Pyrrophyta - Dinoflagellates Division: Euglenophyta - Euglenoids Division: Chlorophyta - Green Algae Division: Phaeophyta - Brown Algae The lack of support in the fossil record for plant evolution Division: Rhodophyta - Red Algae has long been a concern of evolutionists.1 Furthermore, this Kingdom Fungi and Lichens fact has long been recognized by creationists.2–15 Even Division: Zygomycota - Coenocytic True Fungi Charles Darwin acknowledged that the apparent sudden Division: Eumycota - Noncoenocytic True Fungi appearance of plants in the fossil record was a major Class: Basidomycetes - Club Fungi problem for his theory.16–18 And the problem remains today, Class: Deuteromycetes - Imperfect Fungi so much so that in texts dealing with plant evolution, the Plant Kingdom topic of fossil non-support is conspicuous by its absence.19 Division: Hepaticophyta - Liverworts Many reference texts and leading authors on evolution Division: Anthocerotophyta - Hornworts ignore the issue entirely (e.g. Ridley20). At best, writers Division: Bryophyta - Mosses discussed hypothetical scenarios for which they usually Division: Psilotophyta - Whisk Ferns admitted a lack of evidence. Division: Lycophyta - Club Mosses and Quillworts Today, an estimated 375,000 species of living plants Division: Sphenophyta - Horsetails and Scouring are known to exist. For years plants were divided into Rushes Thallophyta, primarily sea plants (plus mosses and ferns); Division: Pterophyta - Ferns and land-dwelling plants called spermatophytes. The former Division: Pinophyta was considered ‘primitive’, and the latter ‘advanced’.21 Class: Pinatae - The Conifers The Thallophyta included all non-seed-producing plants, Division: Magnoliophyta - Flowering Plants while the Spermatophyta included all seed-producing Division: Monocots plants (sperma = seed, phyta = plant). Recent research Class: Poaceae - Grasses has stirred many to abandon this long held Darwinistic Class: Liliaceae - Lily Family scheme. Most seed-producing plants are also flowering Class: Orchidaceae - Orchid Family plants. Spermatophytes are divided into gymnosperms Division: Dicots (naked seed plants such as evergreens that use pine cones Class: Ranunculaceae - Buttercup Family as seeds) and angiosperms (angion = vessel)—plants whose Class: Lauraceae - Laurel Family seeds are enclosed in a vessel called the ovary, into which Class: Papaveraceae - Poppy Family 118 TJ 16(2) 2002 The evolution of plants: a major problems for Darwinism — Bergman Papers Class: Brassicaceae - Mustard Family postulated to exist on the early Earth.30 The history of plant Class: Rosaceae - Rose Family life is dominated at all levels by the Class: Fabaceae - Legume Family ‘ … stability of many species over millions of Class: Euphorbiaceae - Spurge Family years. Some blue-green algae appear to be the same Class: Cactaceae - Cactus Family as those that lived over a billion years ago; there are Class: Lamiaceae - Mint Family species of horsetails apparently identical to plants Class: Solanaceae - Nightshade Family living in the great coal swamps of the Carbonifer- Class: Apiaceae - Carrot Family ous some 130 million years ago; and the beautiful, Class: Cucurbitaceae - Pumpkin Family broad-leaved gymnosperm, the ginkgo, has remained Class: Asteraceae - Sunflower Family unchanged since the Cretaceous. In the case of these old species, it appears that the particular environ- The evidence for plant evolution ments to which they are adapted have shrunk in extent and area through time, while the organisms What is the evidence that plants evolved from some have continuously remained in a stable equilibrium simple one celled organism? Harold C. Bold and his co- with their environments.’31 authors at the University of Texas concluded that Because of this lack of evidence, most texts ignore ‘ … after carefully weighing the currently avail- the problems of plant evolution or try to rationalize them. able evidence of comparative morphology, cytol- One argument is to conclude that evidence for evolution is ogy, biochemistry, and fossil record, are at present not found in the fossil record because most plants were so unwilling to amalgamate any two or more of the 19 well adapted that little change was required. For example, divisions in which they have tentatively classified Went noted: the organisms of the plant kingdom. When and ‘The earliest seed plants that have survived to the if additional relevant data become available, such present day are conifers, the members of the pine and amalgamations will undoubtedly be required, but at spruce family. They are so well adapted to life on this time there are no known living or fossil forms earth that in the 300 million years of their existence, that unequivocally link any two of the proposed divi- there has been relatively little evolutionary change sions’ [emphasis added].25 in them. They are among the most successful plants Evidence for the origin of almost all plant divisions in the world. Pine, spruce and fir populate about a and classes listed above is totally lacking, and little third of all existing forest areas. Where the living is evidence exists as to the origin of any land plants, in spite difficult for other plants ... conifers are usually the of an enormously large plant fossil record. Most reference last outpost trees. Among the living higher plants, books on fossils include hundreds of excellent plant fossil the one with the oldest fossil record, the maidenhair examples (see, for example, Pinna26), yet the fossil record tree, or Ginkgo, is related to the conifers.’32 reveals no clear evidence for evolution. We have so many The botany text now used at the college where I teach fossils that we can conclude confidently that plants have includes only a general chapter on evolution, which almost changed little ‘over millions of years’ and that totally ignores plant evolution, as does the remainder of the ‘ … the rootless, seedless plants ... offer fascinat- book. Often it is only speculation that is presented in the ing clues to the structure and nature of ancient and sections on plant evolution, such as the statement that extinct forms. The leafless whisk fern is a direct ‘ … progymnosperms and Paleozoic ferns may descendant of some of the first plants to develop have evolved from the more ancient trimerophytes woody supporting tissue and an internal plumbing … another possibility is that ferns evolved from the system. The liverwort, whose ancestors lived at the progymnosperms … nor is it certain from which same time as those of the whisk fern, failed to evolve group(s) of progymnosperms the gymnosperms such tissue, and as a result never grows more than evolved’ [emphasis mine].33 an inch or two tall.’27 Given about 375,000 kinds of plants, and an average The plant phyletic tree of ‘only’ 1,000 transitional forms for each one (most likely many more would be necessary), then 375 million Evolutionists have found it more difficult to develop plant transitional forms would be required. Not one clear phyletic trees (compared to animal phyletic trees) for several example has ever been found in the abundant plant fossil reasons. In the past decade alone, at least 15 phyletic trees record. And yet, the ‘only direct evidence’ of evolution of flowering plant lineages have been published.34 One of is ‘provided by the fossil record’.28 The important survey the problems includes the difficulty of developing a natural of the entire fossil record by Donovan and Paul ignored classification scheme which arranges: plants, except to note that phosphatized
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