DID HUMANS ACTUALLY EVOLVE FROM FISH: AN EXCURSION IN EVOLUTION
And Allah has created every animal from water: Of them there are some that creep on their bellies; some that walk on hind legs; and some that walk on four. Allah creates what He wills; for verily Allah has power over all things. (Quran 24:45)
By Babatunde Jose
About 375 million years ago the lobe-finned fish, Tiktaalik, was said to have evolved wrists and ankles which enabled it to use its fins as feet to crawl up the beach, and it or a close relative became the ancestor of all vertebrates that are not fish, including us. John Luczaj – Professor Emeritus (Geoscience) at University of Wisconsin – Green Bay.
All land vertebrates are said to have evolved from a group of lobe-finned fish called crossopterygians. This in itself is a very tendentious statement considering the millions of species of non-fish vertebrates in existence. However, to the utter amazement of biologists, surviving members of the group, called coelacanths, turned up in the Indian Ocean in 1938.
On closer analysis, Amphibians evolved and lived in freshwater. To this day there are no marine amphibians as a result of biological complications.
Studies have shown that amphibians were more amenable in shallow fresh waters where they evolved fully functional limbs before crawling out onto land. Most importantly, amphibians have always been what they are, amphibians. Period. The salamander has not evolved into a crocodile in 375 million years.
Did the amphibians evolve into lions, mammoths, goats, sheep, dinosaurs, and other mammals? Why did some vertebrates continue laying eggs while mammals evolved into having a different reproductive regime?
How come it is only the lobe-finned fish called crossopterygians that developed limbs and all and became amphibians, crawled out of the water, and eventually evolved into land vertebrates? Of all the myriads of creatures in the deep, why the crossopterygians? Did they all evolve into humans because there are facts to suggest that they are not really extinct? To the utter amazement of biologists, surviving members of the group, called coelacanths, turned up in the Indian Ocean in 1938. And interestingly: Modern coelacanths reproduce by internal fertilization, and the mother gives birth to live young.
The Coelacanth are described as living fossils of the sea and are in fact deep sea wonders. Once known only from fossils, the coelacanth was thought to have gone extinct around 65 million years ago, during the great extinction that wiped out the dinosaurs. The coelacanths did not evolve into amphibians as they still live in the deeps.
Fossils of these creatures dated from 80 to 360 million years ago, and yet in 1938, one was found off the coast of South Africa alive. A fish almost entirely unchanged since the days of dinosaurs. Praise God! It had not turned into a human.
This discovery therefore represents one of the most significant natural historical discoveries of recent times. Living at depths of around 200 meters, down in the Twilight Zone of the ocean, they are found around the steep rocky slopes of volcanic islands, venturing forth from their lava-rock caves at night to feed; being passive drift-feeders, they move slow and feed on cephalopods and smaller fish.
Believed by many to have no living relatives, the Coelacanth is a truly unique species. They are the only living vertebrates with a jointed skull that swings upward to greatly increase the gape of the mouth: But they are not amphibians.
Their limb-like pectoral fins are also unique, as they are internally supported by bone, a feature not found in many other fish. They use them in a paddle-like fashion, as if they are walking through the water column.
*These unusual features have led to the coelacanth’s evolutionary history becoming a matter of controversy; but most experts argue it is an early ancestor of modern-day bony fish, with lungfish being its closest relative.*
The sight of these 2 meter long, 200-pound living fossils drifting in the deep is an ominous sight indeed. With only two known coelacanth populations in the world, both having been isolated for millions of years, their low numbers have led to a classification of critically endangered. Only a very small number of specimens have ever been observed, and without careful management of human activities, this species could be lost forever, after having survived unchanged for millions of years.
There you have it.
Could life as we know it – plant, animal, and human life – have spontaneously happened by chance? Could our amazing solar system be the result of an accident? The more advanced science becomes, the more evidence there is for a Master Designer.
Again, we ask, could humans have evolved from the 2 meter long, 200-pound living fossils?
Recently we read an interesting article in the United Christian Broadcasters’, ‘Word for Today’, where it is said that researchers continue to uncover the divine order in each tiny human cell.
American biochemist Bruce Alberts, former president of the National Academy of Sciences, writes,*‘We have always underestimated cells; undoubtedly we still do…Cells are the basic unit of life…indeed the entire cell can be viewed as a factory that contains an elaborate network of interlocking assembly lines, each of which is composed of a set of different protein machines in defined positions.*
The psalmist David wasn’t a scientist, yet he recognized that each of us is a complex product of God’s amazing hands! _‘You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body and knit me together in my mother’s womb…You watched me as I was being formed in utter seclusion…woven together in the dark of the womb…How precious are your thoughts about me…They cannot be numbered! (Psalm: 13, 15, 17-18 NLT)._
The average human heart beats 115,000 times a day. Our blood travels 12,000 miles every day (about three times the length of Lagos to Abuja!). Adults take an average of 18,000 to 30,000 breaths a day, and for the most part, all these functions take place unconsciously. Amazing!
Speaking of our amazing bodies…what about DNA? Each human cell (up to 100 trillion) contains a database larger than the Encyclopedia Britannica! Could all that have originated by chance?
In the Bible, Mathew 6:26-28, we are told to observe intensely God’s handiwork as doing so can deepen our faith, instill confidence in the Creator and build appreciation for God’s wisdom and power.
The Quran reads: *He created you (all) from a single person: then created, of like nature, his mate; and he sent down for you eight head of cattle in pairs: He makes you, in the wombs of your mothers, in stages, one after another, in three veils of darkness. such is Allah, your Lord and Cherisher: to Him belongs (all) dominion. There is no god but He: then how are ye turned away (from your true Centre)? (Quran 39:6)*
The greatest of all creations is man himself, the marvelous machine – precise and efficient. The body has a chemical plant far more intricate than any plant that man has ever built. This plant changes the food we eat into living tissue. It causes the growth of flesh, blood, bones, and teeth. It even repairs the body when parts are damaged by accident or disease.
As for the human brain, it is ‘… the most complex and orderly arrangement of matter in the universe’, says Isaac Asimov. The brain is the centre of a complex computer system more wonderful than the greatest one ever built by man.
In the body, nerves are the wires that carry the information back and forth from the central nervous system. And in just one human brain there is probably more wiring, more electrical circuitry, than in all the computer systems of the world put together. Yes, it is a wonderful thing.
In our eye the focus and aperture are adjusted automatically; a process called _accommodation: The act or state of adjustment or adaptation; the automatic adjustment in the focal length of the lens of the eye to permit retinal focus of images of objects at varying distances._
The heart actually is a muscular pump forcing blood through thousands of miles of blood vessels. Blood carries food and oxygen to every part of the body. The heart pumps an average of six liters (1.5 U.S. gallons) of blood every minute, and in one day pumps enough blood to fill more than forty 200-litre drums.
A far more astonishing wonder is in the development of the human embryos. See *Quran 23:12-14)* The wonders which occur during the nine-month gestation period are unsurpassable.
During the first four weeks of the new life, billions of cells are formed, and they arrange themselves according to a fascinating plan to shape the new human being: A dramatic new development occurs; the first blood vessels appear. A few days later, within the tiny breast of the 1.7 mm long embryo two blood vessels join to form the heart, which begins to pump blood through the miniscule body. The tiny new heart provides the developing brain with blood and oxygen.
In the fourth month, the heart of the fetus already pumps almost 30 liters of blood per day, and at birth this volume will increase to about 350 liters.
In the embryonic stage, lungs, eyes, and ears develop, although they are not used yet. After two months, the embryo is only three to four centimeters long. But even at this stage all organs are already present. During the following months the organs increase in size and assume their eventual shape. Allahu Akbar!
All these because about 375 million years ago the lobe-finned fish, Tiktaalik, evolved wrists and ankles which enabled it to use its fins as feet to crawl up the beach and evolve into man. _Na juju be that!!!_
*How is it possible that embryonic development does not entail disorderly growth of cells, but is systematic and purposeful according to a set timetable? A precise plan, in which all stages are programmed in the finest detail, underlies all these processes. Surely, there is God!*
Prominent scientist Francis Crick wasn’t noted for his faith, but even he said: *‘The origin of life seems almost to be a miracle, so many are the conditions which would have had to have been satisfied to get it going.’* Let us ponder and reflect.
*Barka Juma’at and Happy weekend.*
*Babatunde Jose*
