118 THE CASE AGAINST EVOLUTION 



changed plant forms. Ferns identical with the modern genus 

 Marattia occur in rocks of the Palaeozoic group. Cycads in- 

 distinguishable from the extant genera Zamia and Cycas are 

 found in strata belonging to the Triassic system, etc., etc. 



The same is true of animal types. In all the phyla some 

 genera and even species have persisted unchanged from the 

 oldest strata down to the present day. Among the Protozoa, for 

 example, we have the genus Globigerina (one of the Foram- 

 inifera), some modern species of which are identical with those 

 found in the Cretaceous. To quote the words of the Protozo- 

 ologist, Charles A. Kofoid: 'The Protozoa are found in the 

 oldest fossiliferous rocks and the genera of Radiolaria therein 

 conform rather closely to genera living today, while the fossil 

 Dinoflagellata of the flints of Delitzsch are scarcely distin- 

 guishable from species living in the modern seas. The striking 

 similarities of the most ancient fossil Protozoa to recent ones 

 afford some ground for the inference that the Protozoa living 

 today differ but little from those when life was young." 

 {Science, April 6, 1923, p. 397.) 



The Metazoa offer similar examples of persistence. Among 

 the Ccelenterata, we have the genus Springopora, whose rep- 

 resentatives from the Carboniferous limestones closely resem- 

 ble some of the present-day reef builders of the East Indies. 

 Species of the brachiopod genera Lingula and Crania occurring 

 in the Cambrian rocks are indistinguishable from species living 

 today, while two other modern genera of the Brachiopoda, 

 namely, Rhynchonella and Disdna, are represented among the 

 fossils found in Mesozoic formations. Terebratulina striata, a 

 fossil species of brachiopod occurring in the rocks belonging to 

 the Cretaceous system, is identical with our modern species 

 Terebratulina caput serpentis. Among the Mollusca such 

 genera as Area, Nucula, Lucina, Astarte, and Nautilus have 

 had a continuous existence since the Silurian, while the genera 

 Lima and Pecten can be traced to the Permian. One genus 

 Pleurotomaria goes back to pre-Cambrian times. As to Ter- 

 tiary fossils, Woods informs us that "in some of the later Cain- 



