No evolution? Ancient lizards preserved in amber support Creationism, say Christian scientists
The long-standing debate between Creationism and evolution just recently tipped once again in favour of the Biblical belief that God created all living and non-living things here on Earth, thanks to the discovery of lizards encased in ambers.
A study published last month in the journal "Science Advances" details the "extraordinary preservation" of lizard specimens enclosed in amber, believed to be dating back 99 million years ago.
"Amber deposits are especially useful for preserving small, delicate organisms that are seldom represented as lithified remains or, as fragmentary microvertebrate elements, are often overlooked. This is critical because most lizards are small-bodied," the study explains, as quoted by Christian News.
Brian Thomas of the Institute for Creation Research said the discovery of these ancient lizards clearly debunks the theory of evolution, since they did not evolve at all for 99 million years.
"The encased organisms show no evidence for evolution between creature kinds," Thomas said in the same Christian News article. "Instead, the dozen lizards fall neatly into five modern lizard categories. For example, the researchers found life-like modern geckos and even identified a tiny chameleon fossil."
"No evolution between kinds has happened since their golden entombment. All this amber evidence urges the question: Did the 99 million years really happen?" the Christian scientist asked.
He further asserted that the amber-encased specimens can only be understood and best appreciated if viewed from a Biblical perspective.
"Only minor variations within basic kinds happen today—and that's exactly what we see in these amber specimens," Thomas said. "This means that lizards living with dinosaurs looked like lizards that live today, which fits the Bible's perspective of recent creation."
Supporting Thomas' assertions, Dr. Elizabeth Mitchell of Answers in Genesis pointed out that these newly discovered reptile species completely cannot be explained by Charles Darwin's theory of evolution.
"There is no evidence for upward evolution through a transitional form in this lizard's amber tomb—just evidence for the sort of variation that ordinarily occurs within the created kinds of animals God made," Mitchell said.
"Despite their supposed great age, these lizards, according to the scientists that studied them, display modern features and still have counterparts in today's Old World tropical forests. Why haven't 99 million years of evolution changed lizards more? Could it be that they aren't really so old?" she asked.