What Do We Find in the Fossil Record?

Within a creationist view, many things can be expected under the conditions of such a flood because floods are known for laying down rocks and fossils. First, the fossils should show catastrophic and rapid formation, there should be clearly defined kinds of plants and animals with no transition forms in between, and both simple and complex organisms should exist from the beginning. Second, larger fossils should become polystrate in position as the flood layers quickly settle into place. Third, there should be human artifacts to be found in the fossil record. Furthermore, there would likely be layering where sea life is buried first. The bodies of animals and humans would be less likely because of rotting and decaying.

Death Position Many animals, both small and large or aquatic and land, are fossilized in a position with the head arched back as far as possible while the legs are found in almost any position. This can be interpreted as a sign of asphyxiation. The animal could not breathe because it was rapidly buried and it was trying to reach air to breathe.

Polystrate Fossils A polystrate fossil is a fossil which crosses through multiple rock layers. This suggests that the rock layers were formed quickly and buried fossil rapidly. The alternatives, which seems unrealistic, are to consider that the fossilized item was able to stay in one place for millions of years without rotting while it was slowly buried. There are a number of places in the world where polystrate fossils can be found.

Cambrian Explosion The Cambrian Explosion is geologic lay where complex forms of plants and animals suddenly appear. These forms represent virtually all major forms of life. Most strikingly, there is no simpler forms of life preceding this layer for the vast majority of types to suggest evolutionary changes. This layer probably represents the lowest of the flood deposition layers.

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