Sponges likely paved the way for all life on earth
The idea that complex life came from simpler life has been well documented and studied over the past 150 years. In 1859, Charles Darwin published his tome On the Origin of Species. He posited that life evolved from simple to complex. This is the fundamental concept of evolutionary thinking. But is it possible for a simple life form to evolve into a more complex one? Scientists have assumed this to be true for much of the 20th century and today. However, as we will see in this piece, there are only assumptions and conjecture that the theory is correct. Poking holes in evolutionary thinking is not hard. The only counter they truly have is to call you backwards and uninformed. Look through the following article and look closely at the words in red. These are the words that are uncertain, showing just what the scientists believe and not what they know. It shows us just how much faith these men and women have in their philosophy. My observations are in blue.
Sponges likely paved the way for all life on earth
By Jennifer Viegas
Published March 10, 2014
FoxNews.com
The seemingly lowly sponge, just by its very existence, might have paved the way for the evolution of complex life forms, including our own species, according to a new paper. (Right off the bat – the first sentence – is filled with uncertainty.)
Sponges appear to have added oxygen to the deep ocean, creating an environment where more mobile, major oxygen-using animals could have evolved, holds the paper, published in the latest Nature Geoscience.
The research builds on work, presented earlier this year, which found that the most primitive spongesprobably could survive in water containing very low levels of oxygen.
“There had been enough oxygen in ocean surface waters for over 1.5 billion years before the first animals evolved, but the dark depths of the ocean remained devoid of oxygen,” lead author Tim Lenton of the University of Exeter was quoted as saying in a press release. “We argue that the evolution of the first animals could have played a key role in the widespread oxygenation of the deep oceans. This in turn may have facilitated the evolution of more complex, mobile animals.” (The assumption that there was sufficient oxygen in the ocean waters 2.2 Billion years ago requires knowing whether or not the oxygen found in the rocks was original or assimilated at some later date. While it is possible to know how much oxygen is in a rock currently, it is not possible to know how much oxygen was present in the oceans at the time of the formation of the rock. Nor is it possible to know the composition of the areas surrounding the rocks as they were formed. And lastly, it is not possible to know the concentrations of gases in waters that have long since transformed.)
Several lines of evidence support the theory. DNA analysis finds that the earliest sponges likely first emerged at least 700 million years ago, when the oceans contained little oxygen. Between 700 and 600 million years ago, the oceans gradually became more oxygenated, meaning more enriched with oxygen. Fossils of animals dating to 650 million years ago have been found. (DNA is an organic molecule. Organic molecules decompose over time. After about 10,000 years or so, we may be able to know that the molecules were at one point DNA, but we will not be able to put together the entire molecule to know what it looked like. There will be many areas that have been completely decomposed. After 50,000 years, any Carbon 14, an atom used for age dating, will have been all converted to Carbon 12, unrecognizable from any other C12 atom. And when a sponge or any other animal or plant becomes fossilized, there is no longer any organic material. This means there is no DNA. Fossilization is the replacement of organic material with non-organic material. A fossilized sponge dated 700 Million years ago will have no organic material and therefore no DNA. Lenton et al. would have had to make a slew of assumptions based on DNA analysis of recently living sponges. And if the sponges had evolved significantly from the original species as would be allowable by their theory, then how could they possibly know what was going on 700 My ago?)
Then there is the way that sponges feed. These multicellular organisms consist of pores and channels that allow nutrient-containing water to circulate through them.
As sponges feed, they filter out tiny particles of organic matter from the water. The particles millions of years ago would have included dead microbial matter, which rots and consumes oxygen as it does so. Sponges therefore helped to clean water of this material. Without all of the rotting going on, the water would have experienced increased oxygen levels, the researchers suggest. (The author makes a “fact” out of an assumption – that there would be microbes in the waters before sponge life. Evolutionary theory requires this, but there is no physical evidence to support the claim. Now, I do not talk much about this particular topic, but since they mentioned “dead microbial matter” I want to talk about what the Bible says about death. God made the heavens and earth perfect and without death. When Adam sinned, God had to make atonement for that sin. The only punishment for sin is death, and instead of striking Adam dead right then and there, God provided a substitute – a lamb whose blood was shed instead of Adam’s. Today, we know that Jesus is our lamb – the sacrifice made for all our sins.)
More oxygen in the water then set the stage for even more complex life forms to emerge, such as the first predatory animals with guts that started to eat one another, marking the beginning of a modern marine ecosystem, with the type of food webs we are familiar with today. (This is one of the biggest challenges for evolutionary thinkers. How do we get from a sponge to an animal that has a gut? The stomach alone is an extremely complex organ, utilizing a significantly different set of organic materials for its structure in addition to inorganic compounds for the digestion of food. It is so much different from a simple filter that it defies the odds that it could ever evolve. But even if you thought it was possible for the changes to take place, the one thing that should really get you to reject the notion is the concept of irreducible complexity. In order for something to change to something else, there has to be a known pathway for success. If it were to take 10 simple, subsequent changes to go from a filter to a stomach – a wildly small number to be sure – the changes after the first one would never take place because the first change did not add any benefit to the organism. The changes would stop and the organism would not advance any farther, therefore, no stomach. The first change would have been selected out naturally because it did not add anything to the viability of the organism.)
It is widely accepted that the first terrestrial animals evolved from marine species. Mammals, including humans, are a class of animals that evolved from terrestrial species.
The jump from sponges to humans is, of course, a long one, but many researchers believe that sponges are the most likely candidate for an “Animal Eve,” referring to a single group of organisms that, through many stages of evolution, gave rise to all animals alive today. (Animal Eve is the name given to the first animal life form. From this creature all animal life would evolve. Thus, according to “many researchers,” your ancestors are sponges. From simple to complex. One of many problems is there is no known mechanism for additional DNA information to be created. Mutations are the only mechanism evolutionists can call on, and there are no known beneficial mutations. All are either fatal or worthless.)
The latest research also helps to answer a chicken-and-egg-type question: Which came first, a lot of sponges, or an oxygenated ocean deep? The answer, at least according to Lenton and his team, is the former.
“The effects we predict suggest that the first animals, far from being a passive response to rising atmospheric oxygen, were the active agents that oxygenated the ocean around 600 million years ago,” he said. “They created a world in which more complex animals could evolve, including our very distant ancestors.” (Lenton assumes that oxygen was not in great supply in the deep oceans until sponges filtered out enough dead material and converted it to free oxygen. Aren’t we lucky an animal showed up early enough with exactly the right design to change debris to oxygen? What are the odds?)