Evolutionary scientists rarely if ever use the term, for a couple of reasons: first, saying "the" missing link implies that there is a single key to make everything fit, something no scientist believes. In popular culture, "missing link" refers to a perceived gap between, for instance, apes and humans. With cladograms, there are fewer missing links, since cladograms use data we have instead of fabricating a diagram of what we think we should have. Instead, they tend to use a "cladogram," which sorts physical characteristics (such as feather coloration) and then infers an evolutionary relationship from those characteristics (birds of a feather must be related). If there is no fossil proof for such a transitional species, its place is marked as "missing" on the tree-the assumption being that such a species must have existed in order for evolution to be true.Įvolutionary scientists don't rely on the direct-descendent tree of life as much as they used to. For example, for vertebrates to move out of the water on to land, as evolutionists suppose they did, there must be an animal which first developed lungs and four legs. Missing links are placeholders used when a transitional fossil cannot be found to fill in the "tree of life," a visual representation of the evolutionary process showing relationships between species.
The fossil record is the collection of all fossils found all over the world. What is the missing link, and has it been found?Ī "missing link" is any gap in the fossil record between any animal and its supposed evolutionary ancestor.
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