Defender's Guide to Science and Creationism

Assertion: Homologous features do not prove ancestral relationships between any organisms, because all classifications above the species level are man-made and arbitrary.

Mark I. Vuletic

Last updated 21 March 2008

Analysis

Where taxa with fine differences are concerned, the classification of a given species may be a bit contrived (as is the case with transitional forms, which usually could be filed as easily under one class as another), but there are clear major differences between most taxa from genus to kingdom level. Still, the homologies persist across taxa, so either they were made by a deceitful creator who wanted to deceive everyone into believing evolution occurred, or a somewhat absent-minded creator used a common body plan for many different organisms (unmindful of how that would suggest evolution), or else homologies constitute real evidence of the ancestral relationships between various kinds of organisms. While classification is a human endeavor, the similarities and differences between various organisms caused by their degree of relatedness constitute a reality independent of the choices we make in our classification system. (Ruse 1982:309-310)

References

M. Ruse. 1982. Darwinism Defended: A Guide to the Evolution Controversies. London: Addison-Wesley.

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