Compelling Convergence

A computer analysis comparing the bone strength of pelicans and whales is said to provide “compelling evidence” for convergent evolution. Because both pelicans and rorqual whales (such as blue whales and humpbacks) stretch their jaws wide to engulf large amounts of water along with their next meal, both need very strong jaws.

Daniel Fields of Yale analyzed CT scans and determined that “both species exhibit the exact same pattern of bending resistance.” Interpreting the data as “a pretty textbook example of convergent evolution,” he adds, “You have two unrelated animals contending with really similar selective pressures, which forces them to adopt similar adaptations . . . . It’s a really compelling example that has the potential to show you how evolution proceeds.”

Convergent evolution is the notion that when organisms whose ancestral paths do not cross possess a similar feature, they evolved that feature independently to cope with similar challenges. When organisms do possess some sort of homologous structures, then they are assumed to share a common ancestor. Thus, whether a common ancestor can be invoked or not, evolutionists have a convenient explanation available.

This is not compelling evidence of how evolution proceeds. It is compelling evidence that both animals can eat lunch without breaking their jaws.

In this case, the fact that both animals possess bones strong enough to bend instead of break while gulping their food is taken as prima facie evidence for their evolution. They simply evolved their mighty gulps independently because they needed to. No mechanism offered. Nothing. This is not compelling evidence of how evolution proceeds. It is compelling evidence that both animals can eat lunch without breaking their jaws. How did they acquire that ability? God, their common Designer, used the same good design more than once.