Current news from the field of paleontology is what creationists expected and even predicted. Whether recent fossil discoveries are invertebrates or vertebrates, they will not document gradual evolutionary progression from one kind into another kind.

Some of the latest examples include a new species of extinct shark named Parvodus ominechonensis that was discovered in Japan.¹ Scientists determined it belongs to a small group of hybodontiform sharks called the hybodonts. They appear in the fossil record as hybodonts with the last disappearing abruptly.

The fossil record shows the many species of cartilaginous fish (i.e., sharks) suddenly appearing in the sedimentary rocks, but their origin “is still shrouded mystery.”²

Creationists maintain that although new species of plant or animal are constantly discovered, many can be placed within the created kinds that God described in Genesis 1. Sharks are an excellent example. Although today’s oceans are teeming with many unique types of shark—and even more so in the pre-Flood world—they remain sharks. Evolutionist Michael Benton states that sharks of the genus Cladoselache are basal, i.e., some of the first sharks to have evolved. Yet, these sharks are “surprisingly modern looking.”³

Sharks were created as sharks,^4,5and many were killed and fossilized during the Flood about 4,500 years ago.

The creation model also predicts that a group of unique arthropods—spiders—would be found either in amber or sedimentary rocks—as spiders—with no indication of evolutionary ancestry.^6,7

Now evidence of a 100% “310-million-year-old” web-spinning spider has been discovered, and it’s a 100% spider.

Here, a new late Carboniferous spider from Piesberg in north-western Germany is described. [Paleontologists] previously mentioned the presence of fossil spiders (as Arthrolycosa) here, but the present specimen is the first Piesberg spider to be formally described. This makes it the first named Palaeozoic spider from Germany and at the same time, the oldest formal record of Araneae for this country.⁸

Jason Dunlop went on to say, “Spinnerets are also preserved, confirming its status as a genuine spider rather than being part of an extinct spider-like arachnid lineage.”⁸

Science writer Rachael Funnell stated, “Despite its incredible age, the fossil spider is near-perfect as an almost complete specimen. It’s survived in the fossil record to become one of just 12 Carboniferous [mid-Flood] species which can be confidently assigned to Araneae.”⁹ Maybe it’s not nearly that old, and the reason for its near-perfect condition may lie in the fact that it was catastrophically buried during a recent, worldwide flood.

Cephalopods are a class of marine invertebrates that include the squid, nautilus, and octopus, and they are “the most advanced of all molluscs.”¹⁰ But regarding their origin, evolutionists can only say the origin of the ammonoid cephalopod evolved from a “hypothetical archimollusc.”¹¹ Hickman et al. stated, “The first molluscs probably arose during Precambrian times, because fossils attributed to Mollusca appear in geological strata as old as the early Cambrian period [emphasis added].”¹² The so-called Cambrian represents some of the earliest Flood deposits.

In 2024, Argentinian paleontologists have redescribed a puzzling species of ammonoid cephalopod called Epitornoceras [formerly Tornoceras] baldisi that are allegedly “383 million years old.”¹³ These amazing invertebrates seem to have been ubiquitous:

In the study, the authors examined ten new specimens of Epitornoceras baldisi collected from the uppermost part of the Chigua Formation, San Juan province, Argentina....

“Epitornoceras is a cosmopolitan genus, which diversified after the Taghanic biocrisis of the Late Middle Givetian, according to Appalachian, Moroccan and European records,” the researchers said.

“Its presence in southernmost western Gondwana suggests immigration from tropical regions to the cold Malvinoxhosan Realm during the Late Givetian.”¹³

In addition, Epitornoceras has been found in Europe, North America, and North Africa.

As with the other examples listed, there is no real evolution of this nautilus-like cephalopod.

Finally, the ugly and elegant pterosaur has made recent paleontological news. The discovery of a new pterosaur species was found in Australia and is supposedly “100-million-years-old.”¹⁴

de Lazaro of SciNews reports that Curtin University Ph.D. student Adele Pentland and colleagues have “identified the specimen as a member of Anhangueria, a group of pterosaurs known to have lived across the world, including in what is now Brazil, England, Morocco, China, Spain and the United States.”¹⁴ These flying reptiles, too, were evidently global and are 100% pterosaurs with no evolutionary ancestry.

Pentland et al. stated in Nature,

Pterosaur remains have been reported from every continent; however, pterosaur skeletons remain rare. A new pterosaur is presented here, Haliskia peterseni gen. et sp. nov., constituting the most complete specimen from Australia from the upper Albian [near the high point of the Flood] Toolebuc Formation of the Eromanga Basin (Queensland, Australia). A combination of features, including the presence of a premaxillary crest and curved teeth, and the morphology of the scapulocoracoid, support its referral to Anhangueria.¹⁵

As is always the case, varieties and variations of creatures (e.g., pterosaurs) are found, but not their evolutionary ancestors.

Is there any fossil evidence of how an unknown hypothetical non-flying reptile millions of years ago achieved a streamlined head and hollow bones in preparation for flight? There is none. Additionally the front legs of [a] “proto-pterosaur” would have to evolve into extremely aerodynamic wings. Such a strange scenario should document how the 4th finger of the hand would extend out to an amazing length while at the same time supporting a wing membrane. No transitional fossils recording such a change have been unearthed and evolutionists do not fully understand their ancestry.¹⁶

The Genesis account of creation stands. God created the living world to only reproduce after their own kind. When paleontologists unearth victims of the recent worldwide cataclysm—either vertebrate of invertebrate—they show either sudden appearance with variation within the created kind, sudden disappearance, or are still alive today as living fossils.^17,18 There are God-designed natural limits to biological change.¹⁹

References

1. Breeden, B. et al. 2023. A new freshwater lonchidiid hybodontiform shark (Chondrichthyes, Elasmobranchii) from the Upper Triassic Momonoki Formation in Yamaguchi, Japan. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 43 (5).
2. Long, J. 2011. The Rise of Fossil Fishes. Baltimore, MD: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 95.
3. Sherwin, F. and J. Tomkins. New Shark Species is Still a Shark. Creation Science Update. Posted on ICR.org January 17, 2019.
4. Sherwin, F. 2009. Sharks Remain Sharks. Acts & Facts. 38 (8): 16.
5. Sherwin, F. New Shark Fossil from Arkansas. Creation Science Update. Posted on ICR.org May 20, 2024.
6. Sherwin, F. Spiders Have Always been Spiders. Creation Science Update. Posted on ICR.org March 19, 2015.
7. Sherwin, F. Delicate Spider Fossil Discovered. Creation Science Update. Posted on ICR.org February 21, 2019.
8. Dunlop, J. 2023. The first Palaeozoic spider (Arachnida: Araneae) from Germany. Paläontologische Zeitschrift. 97: 497–504.
9. Funnell, R. 310-Million-Year-Old Fossil Spider Is The Oldest Ever Found In Germany. IFLScience. Posted on iflscience.com July 28, 2023.
10. Clarkson, E. N. 1986. Invertebrate Paleontology and Evolution. Crows Nest, AU: Allen & Unwin, 169.
11. Clarkson, Figure 8.1.
12. Hickman, C. et al. 2020. Integrated Principles of Zoology. New York, NY: McGraw Hill, 364.
13. Lazaro, E. New Fossils of Nautilus-Like Cephalopod Unearthed in Argentina. scinews. Posted on sci.news June 10, 2024.
14. de Lazaro, E. New Flying Reptile Fossils Found in Australia. scinews. Posted on sci.news June 13, 2024.
15. Pentland, A. et al. 2024. Haliskia peterseni, a new anhanguerian pterosaur from the late Early Cretaceous of Australia. Nature. 14, article 11789.
16. Sherwin, F. New Pterosaur Discovered. Creation Science Update. Posted on ICR.org April 11, 2020.
17. Clarey, T. New Claims of a Billion-Year-Old Living Fossil. Creation Science Update. Posted on ICR.org March 17, 2020.
18. Thomas, B. New Population Found of Damselfly ‘Living Fossil.’ Creation Science Update. Posted on ICR.org January 19, 2010.
19. Morris, J. 1996. What Is the Difference Between Macroevolution and Microevolution? Acts & Facts. 25 (10).

Stage image: Ammonoid
Stage image credit: Copyright © James St. John. Used in accordance with federal copyright (fair use doctrine) law. Usage by ICR does not imply endorsement of copyright holder.

* Dr. Sherwin is a science news writer at the Institute for Creation Research. He earned an M.A. in invertebrate zoology from the University of Northern Colorado and received an honorary doctorate of science from Pensacola Christian College.