80 THE CASE AGAINST EVOLUTION 



of the evolutionary argument. When the theory of descent 

 is forced to account for heterogenetic resemblance at expense 

 of all likelihood and consistency, when it cannot save itself 

 except by blowing hot and cold with one breath, one is tempted 

 to exclaim: "Oh, why bother with it!" 



(3) Adaptational convergence is the occurrence of parallel 

 modifications due to analogous specialization in unrelated 

 forms, whose phylogeny has been obviously diverse. ''Also, 

 animals belonging to quite distinct groups," says Woods, "may, 

 when living under similar conditions, come to resemble one 

 another owing to the development of adaptive modifications, 

 though they do not really approach one another in essential 

 characters ; thus analogous or parallel modifications may occur 

 in independent groups — such are the resemblances between 

 flying reptiles {Ornithosaurs) and birds, and between sharks, 

 icthyosaurs and dolphins." (Op. cit., p. 16.) As this type of 

 convergence has been discussed in a previous article, with 

 reference to the mole and mole-cricket, it need not detain us 

 further. 



All these types of convergence, but especially the second type, 

 are factual evidence of the compatibility of resemblance with 

 independent origin, and the fact of their occurrence tends to 

 undermine the certainty of the phylogenetic inferences based on 

 fossil evidence ; all the more so, that, thanks to its bad state of 

 preservation, and the impossibility of dissection, even super- 

 ficial resemblances may give rise to false interpretations. And, 

 as for the cases of radical convergence, there is no denying that 

 they strike at the very heart of the theory of descent. 



The third difiiculty for Transformism arises from the dis- 

 continuity of the geological record. It was one of the very 

 first discrepancies to be discovered between evolutionary ex- 

 pectation and the actual results of research. The earliest ex- 

 plorations revealed a state of affairs, that subsequent investi- 

 gations have failed to remedy: on the one hand, namely, a 

 notable absence of intermediate species to bridge the gaps 

 between the fossil genera, and on the other hand, the sudden 



