Question

What are transitional fossils and why are they important to the fossil record?

Answer 1

Hint: Any preserved traces, impression, or trace of any once-living thing from a previous geological age is referred to as a fossil 'fossilis', often obtained by digging. Bones, shells, exoskeletons, stone imprints of animals or bacteria, amber-preserved artefacts, fur, petrified wood, oil, coal, and DNA remnants are a few examples.

Complete answer:
A fossil record is a set of fossils that have been examined and organised in taxonomic and chronological order. When organisms die, their bodies are encased in soil and rock and eventually replaced by minerals over time.

A transitional fossil is a fossil that demonstrates a transitional form of two separate species. The traits of both the species that came before it and the species that came after it can be present in the transitional fossil. One of the best examples is Archaeopteryx, a transitional species that shows how dinosaurs without feathers evolved into modern birds. Transitional fossils are predicted by Darwin's theory of evolution.

This theory, also known as descent with alteration, claims that all life began as a single cell and evolved into the various types of life we see today. There have been no discoveries of the transitional fossils expected by descent with an alteration. According to the theory, species gradually shifted from one type to another, so transitional fossils should be identified that show signs of the organism's transitional forms. Finding these transitional fossils is crucial when using the fossil record to support Darwin's theory of evolution. The lack of transitional fossils showing incremental shifts from one type to another raises questions about the validity of Darwin's theory of evolution.

Note:
- Archaeopteryx was first found in 1860 or 1861, when a single feather was discovered near Solnhofen, Germany, in limestone deposits.
- The Berlin Specimen, the most complete skeleton, was discovered near Eichstatt, Germany, in 1874 or 1875 by farmer Jakob Niemeyer, who sold it to innkeeper Johann Dörr in 1876.