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Evolution is Not “Linked”

Evolution is a biological process over time wherein one species, through either geographical or ecological separation becomes another species.  That’s all.  There are “links” in the chain from one species to another through transitional forms, but there is no specific point in time where one can point to one species and say that it is the “link” from one species to another. 

As we’ve seen with this most recent fossil find from Germany, the evolutionary process has junctions where two species have descended from a common ancestor.  We could argue the semantics, but this is not actually a “link”.  What occurs is that one species has descendants and these descendants become isolated from the parent species in some way.  It could be that one group of descendants ends up ecologically isolated in a rain forest when the parent species evolved on grasslands.  It could be that one group of descendants ends up on an island, physically separated from the parent species.  In either case it takes many years before these descendant groups become separate species. 

An example of this is lions and tigers.  Lions and tigers are, obviously, separate species.  They inhabit different ecological niches and geographic locations.  However, lions and tigers are close enough to the parent species that they can interbreed.  In this case, although lions and tigers are separate species, one could argue that they are not yet a distinct separate species from the parent species, even though the parent species no longer exists. 

So, in closing, it is true that this most recent discovery is very exciting in terms of finding a link between the major primate groups.  We now have what appears to be conclusive, physical proof that the great apes (including homo sapiens), monkeys and lemurs are directly descended from one parent species.  This is extremely exciting and important.  But, it’s not a missing link.