Do All Human Bodies Host “5 Traces of Ancient Species”?

Well, what are these five supposed traces of our ancient ancestors?

1. Our large brains and broad pelvises which supposedly increased in size soon after the shift to walking upright, a development supposedly inherited from our more ape-like ancestors sometime in the past few million years.
2. A skull with “a single opening and bony arch,” a feature common to a class of creatures called synapsids (of which mammals are the only survivors), dating back an alleged 300 million years.
3. Our ten fingers and ten toes, the “pentadactyl limb,” a supposed link to our fishy ancestors 380 million years ago.
4. Our teeth, a feature we “share” with much of life, supposedly going all the way back to a fish with whorled teeth that lived a supposed 439 million years ago.
5. Our spinal cord which, in the evolutionary view, links us with 65,000 living species and half a billion years of alleged history.

It’s likewise true that if all of life had a common Designer we’d expect to see similarities—after all, engineers don’t “reinvent the wheel” every time they make something!

So is homology really evidence for evolution? Well, it’s true that, if all of life did share a common ancestor, we’d expect to find similarities. But it’s likewise true that if all of life had a common Designer we’d expect to see similarities—after all, engineers don’t “reinvent the wheel” every time they make something! They use similar designs, formulas, and calculations and yet make an almost infinite number of different innovations.

Think of it this way: a bicycle, a sports car, a locomotive, and a tractor all have similar design elements such as wheels, gears, a metal frame, and so on and yet no one assumes that these evolved from each other. Engineers just used similar designs in novel ways to create vehicles suited for a variety of environments and situations. It makes sense that the ultimate Designer would do the same thing in his creation.

So which view makes better sense of the evidence—common ancestry or common Designer?

Well, consider that evolutionists assumed, based on their belief that common design means common ancestry, that the genetic pathways that build various features (such as the vertebrate limb) would be analogous across supposedly related groups (i.e. roughly the same genes, in the same places, would build the same features). But, as technology and science advanced to allow scientists to look at individual genes and what these genes code for, it became obvious that this assumption was wrong!

The better explanation for homology is that all of life has a common Designer, the Lord Jesus Christ, who made each creature according to its kind, often using similar structures and designs, able to do what it was designed to do and do it well!

And consider the problem of “convergent evolution”—when two structures are homologous and yet, according to the evolutionary tree of life, these lifeforms are on totally separate “limbs.” Well, suddenly homology isn’t evidence of common ancestry. Instead, these unrelated creatures must have faced similar environmental pressures and evolved similar structures. So homology is supposedly great evidence for evolution—unless it’s not!

The better explanation for homology is that all of life has a common Designer, the Lord Jesus Christ, who made each creature according to its kind, often using similar structures and designs, able to do what it was designed to do and do it well!

Get More Answers on Answers News

This item was discussed Wednesday on Answers News with cohosts Bryan Osborne, Patricia Engler, and Dr. Jennifer Rivera. Answers News is our weekly news program filmed live before a studio audience here at the Creation Museum and broadcast on my Facebook page and the Answers in Genesis Facebook page. We also covered the following topics:

• Can humans understand ape language?
• Is all life equal and of equal concern?
• Pope Francis: homosexuality, a sin, not a crime.
• And more!

Be sure to join us each Wednesday at 2 p.m. (ET) on my Facebook page or the Answers in Genesis Facebook page for Answers News. You won’t want to miss this unique news program that gives science and culture news from a distinctly biblical and Christian perspective.

Thanks for stopping by and thanks for praying,
Ken

This item was written with the assistance of AiG’s research team.