I was just thinking earlier, about where or what became of the "transitions" in the various stages of evolution from one form of life to another.

In this case I was looking at an article on now extinct whales.

The earlier models had their nostrils on the end of their nose like crocodiles.

Modern day whales and dolphins have them behind their head.

So what happens, do the nostrils slowly move backwards, at times where there beasts with the blowhole between their eyes?

I mean, if you look at the fossil evidence, you just see one step, then the next. Where is the "grey" area in between?

You have to take it on faith.

Only those that were there know the truth, but my guess is that we only see the remains of a TINY fraction of what has lived on this planet. The conditions for useful fossilization are somewhat chancy.
So, it seems natural that with only random snapshots taken along the millinea we'd see these "leaps" in evolution.
Some possible reasons for the changes are simple mutation, or even a genetic "will" of sorts that pushes toward greater efficiency.
There's on old version of a croc on display at the museum across the river, and they show how the bostrils were believed to be forward the snout instead of on top as they are today. This meant they had to be "tilted" in the water to breathe, and couldn't simultaneously hide from prey, see prey and breathe at the same time. Crocs we have now are able to slink along just under the surface; much more efficient.
I read somewhere that we had some 10% less body-odor-producing glands than 100 yrs ago or some such.
Now, in 10k years, if this planet still holds life, they will be lucky to find two solid representations of human within 100 years of each other. They may very well be wondering, "exactly when did we stop stinking?"

Here is a link to the Museum in Bakersfield Ca.
I volunteer there and they have a large selection of local marine fossils. They specialize in whales and dolphins as well as shark teeth. Last weekend I spent about 4 Hours working on a whale jaw bone to free it for transport back to the lab. The fossil bed is only about 10 to 18" thick from the compression of the forming mountains in the area. What was said earlier about only seeing one fossil at a time is true,these creatures had a life span about our own length and they are so rair that you will never see 20 of them lined up to see the changes that progressed over millions of years. Our inland sea didnt last long enough to get the whole evolution of any fossil species but we are happy to get what we can.
http://sharktoothhill.com

Hi Express,
There have been many developements in Evolutionary Biology in the past thirty years or so. Much of it has yet to filter into the elementary and high school school systems of the world. One major developement in evolutionary theory is cladistics. It's a rather esoteric tool for helping to sort out the interrelationships between different groups of living things. It's a bit too complicated to explain in an online forum but suffice it to say that the bottom line is that cladistic theory allows us to view the interrelationships between living things as essentially a nearly unbroken "tree" of intermediates, as opposed to a listing of discreet and not very closely related organisms. That is to say, if you accept that the fossil record is incomplete, with many gaps, but that all life is ultimately related, then everything can be viewed as a kind of intermediate on the way to something else. In other words, it all boils down to the point of view from which you choose to examine the problem of how things are related.

The fact of the matter is that evolution is a load of bull ,evidently there is some mega intelligence behind the scene that put everything into motion ,intelligent things dont happen by accident .does money goe into your bank account by accident ??????? no it doesnt .whoever made the dinosaurs got bored with them, and decided to cull em , and replace them with mega fauna ,mammals. the fossil record disproves evolution ,species appeared suddenly. animals ,humans ,plants operate according to programs put into them .ears reach a certain length and size then stop growing ,noses,eyes,legs,heads ,stripes ,marking etc .things like this just dont ''happen '' Darwin was only a man, and now a very dead one.

the fossil record disproves evolution

But how can you believe the fossil record when those that uncover and assemble fossils tend towards a belief in evolution.

It sort of sounds like the alternative health care people. One one hand they say the doctors are fucked and then on the other hand they try and use some doctors for support.

Mike

Yeah, ok.
Sleep well, there, buddy.

It needs to be put down in case it breeds.

Mike

It already has.

if evolution is correct ,why hasnt life evolved on the moon ,venus ,jupiter ,the sun ? tell me that one, know alls??