"The evolutionary trees that adorn our textbooks have data only at the tips and nodes of their branches; the rest is inference, however reasonable, not the evidence of fossils....Darwin...wagered his entire theory on a denial of this literal record:
'The geological record is extremely imperfect and this fact will to a large extent explain why we do not find interminable varieties, connecting together all the extinct and existing forms of life by the finest graduated steps. He who rejects these views on the nature of the geological record will rightly reject my whole theory.'
Darwin's arguement still persists as the favored escape of most paleontologists from the embarrassent of a record that seems to show so little of evolution directly....I wish in no way to impugn...gradualism...I wish only to point out that it was never "seen" in the rocks."（"The Panada's Thumb", Penguin Books, 1987 pg. 151; emphasis added）
This is almost unbelievable. Even though one of the biggest evidences we hear to support the theory of evolution is "the fossil record", BOTH Stephen Jay Gould AND Charles Darwin are saying evolution is NOT seen in the rocks. That should come as a surprise to quite a few people.
I suggest you get a copy of "The Panada's Thumb" and read it for yourself.
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