Living Fossil: Lobster

The “living fossil” for this week is “the world’s oldest lobster,” according to National Geographic News, which reports on a fossil lobster found in Mexico in 1995. In a press release on Monday, scientists from the National Autonomous University of Mexico announced that the late crustacean had been dated “at 110 million years old,” some 20 million years older than other specimens have been dated. (National Geographic News does not report what method scientists used to date the lobster.)

Scientists from the National Autonomous University of Mexico announced that the late crustacean had been dated “at 110 million years old,” some 20 million years older than other specimens have been dated.

This announcement echoes the two standard “living fossil” discoveries: first, scientists express awe that this creature’s supposed evolutionary process started earlier than once thought:

“The important message that we can give is that the evolution of these groups of crustaceans needs to be reviewed, since the specialists of the world thought that it started much later[.]”

And second, scientists express amazement that the creature’s morphology has remained largely unchanged throughout the alleged millions of years:

“We could call them living fossils, since they have had a consistent morphologic pattern throughout many millions of years.”

Living fossils, surprises to evolutionists, confirm the creationist view of biological history as represented by the “orchard” as opposed to the single “tree” of evolution. Rather than finding transitional forms in the rocks that clearly depict steady, gradual evolution over time, scientists mostly discover fossils that are easily identifiable and closely resemble life-forms that survive to this day with only minor differences.