The Essentials: A Healthy Portion of Science with a Dash of Romance (Part 1)

In light of the efficiency in which decomposers process a dead body the reality of fossils is really quite striking.  Worms, bacteria fungus, beetles and other animals looking for an easy meal all consume the dead as soon as they can gain access.  In order for a dead thing to become a fossil it has to be insulated from all of its possible afterlife attackers and be in a geological position to be preserved. Yet we do have fossils. Furthermore people often have a rare and special relationship with fossils and what they represent that is unusual for topics that come out of science or history.  Fossils can evoke thoughts tied to adventure, mystery, controversy and continuity and they need to be dealt with in discussions around faith, science and evolution.

The Essentials: Spoiler Alert – Take 2

Please forgive me for yesterday’s randomness and lack of content/clarity.  I started out wanting to write something about fossils and ended up writing a brief synopsis of a fun book I read.  The book came to mind because the main tension in the story surrounds a meteorite found buried deep within the ice in the Arctic Circle.  The meteorite is a fossil, in a sense, in that it is a preserved artifact buried under layers of sediment.  In this case the layers of sediment are formed by ice and snow.  This particular meteorite also fits the category of fossil because it contains traces of organisms.  

(Note: It has been a while since I last read the book so details are a bit fuzzy.  Rest assured that I am reviewing the text and will correct any inconsistencies in my recollection as I find them.)

As stated above, fossils are bits or traces of organisms that have been long buried and are then dug up. One of the interesting things about fossils is that they are pretty rare.  This rarity is due to the unlikelihood of fossilization to occur.  For an organism to be fossilized it has to be buried before it is eaten by scavengers or decomposed by detritivores*, buried in such a way that it is not decomposed while underground (which is where a lot of the decomposers hang out), be positioned in a place geologically that will allow for its tissues to be replaced by minerals and finally survive the heaving and weathering that takes place under the subtle yet relentless motions of the earth.

With all of these required conditions it is a wonder that we have any fossils at all.  But, especially considering the enormous timescales that span natural history, fossilization conditions have and will exist and there is an ever growing collection of fossils.  This collection, when considered collectively, is known as the fossil record. 

Like the conclusions drawn from the da Vinci Code  (sorry I just can't give up the Dan Brown references) some of the conclusion from the fossil record have been controversial or, maybe better said, disagreed about.  However there are a few things about fossils that are generally agreed upon.  One is that if you find a fossil in old rocks the fossil is also old.  Another is that there are uncanny connections in structure between older fossils, newer ones and modern day organisms.  A final agreement about fossils is that the fossil record is incredibly incomplete. 

This last point is often cited as proof that evolution is a misguided, unsubstantiated guess put forth by humanistic scientists.  Unfortunately this conclusion is simply wrong.  The rarity of fossilization events to occur actually predicts that there would be limits to the fossil record.  Most unfortunate about the mischaracterization of the fossil record is that it makes those who purvey that viewpoint appear unreliable.  That unreliable quality is then all too easily transferred to other areas such as statements of faith in an all powerful God, who came to Earth as a human, defeated death and provides salvation for anyone who believes.