Charles Darwin predicted, based on his theory of evolution, that many fossils would be discovered in the ground showing how one species gradually evolved into another species. However, after more than a century of searching, these transitional fossils have not been uncovered leaving large “gaps” in the record of evolution. Dr. Michael Ruse, a strong opponent of Creationism and Intelligent Design theory, acknowledges this.
One must acknowledge that there are many, many gaps in the fossil record. Moreover, given the high improbability of fossilization, there is no reason to think that all or most of these gaps will be bridged.
As Ruse states, these gaps are usually explained by pointing out how rare it is for life forms to fossilize in the ground. This explanation is certainly possible but it’s also possible that the gaps exist because there were never any transitional life forms in the first place. That is, some Intelligent Designer (God?) created the basic life forms and they experienced some evolution but there were limits as to how much they changed. But, of course, this is one possibility that biologists are not allowed to consider.
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Reference
Robert T. Pennock and Michael Ruse, eds., But Is It Science? The Philosophical Question in the Creation/Evolution Controversy, Updated ed (Amherst, N.Y: Prometheus Books, 2009), 119.