Sorry, but I just don't know enough to discuss at that level. I wish I did.

If the fossil records showed that, I would "believe in" evolution.

Two things that are interesting ...

[1] What the fossil record does show.

[2] How rare it is for something to actually fossilize (and even more rare for us to discover it. Very little [comparatively] of the world has been explored for fossils).

Seriously, for as rare as fossilization is, and given the amount of area still unexplored, the fossil record says quite a bit.

It is one of those things that you almost cannot ignore.

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Helpful link ...

Transitional fossils: http://www.talkorigins.org/...sitional/part1a.html

Amphibians to Amniotes: http://www.talkorigins.org/...sitional/part1b.html

(Amniotes are reptile like, determined by laying eggs that have an amniotic sac, hence "Amniotes":.

Overview of the Cenozoic: http://www.talkorigins.org/...sitional/part2a.html

Mammals, Part 2: http://www.talkorigins.org/...sitional/part2b.html

More Mammals: http://www.talkorigins.org/...sitional/part2c.html

(THe Good models, bad models at the end of 2C is interesting.

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I asked around for a "Fossil" book that had sequential pictures of the fossils as they are presented in order. I will likely have to get a graduate level book. It's not as simple as I would like, since there are whole books written on "Amphibian fossils", "Invertebrates", etc. Incidently, from a fossil perspective, humans are the most well documented, which isn't suprising ... since we're the youngest.

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-- Every morning brings opportunity;
Each evening offers judgement. --

As a side note to this discussion, and addressed to you as the originator (Originator?) of the thread, but hoping to get a response from all parties: some people believe in a/the Creator; how was that Creator created?

some people believe in a/the Creator; how was that Creator created?

For me ... Either [1] always existed (infinite), or [2] came from outside of our universe, or [3] both.

Not sure if your question is on a serious note, or not (I answered if it were). This discussion has occourred once, twice or 27 times previously. If you are interested, a quick search should do the trick.

There are also other ideas such as aliens, etc ... I believe Francis Crick (DNA dude) that thought aliens had started life on this planet.

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-- Every morning brings opportunity;
Each evening offers judgement. --

Yes, I was asking seriously (thank you for answering) and yes I am guilty of not searching before asking. However, I did not search because from what I have read so far in other threads, it appears that I would have to read through a lot of off topic comments. Kind of like searching for a needle in a whole hay stack when I know that some people here can restrict the search to only one portion of the stack.

Note that my question wasn't so much on how life was created on this planet, but more on what the consensus is, for people who believe on a Creator, on how that Creator was created. Is there even such a consensus?

To me, it seems like if somebody is going to explain the origin of life by putting a Creator in the picture then they ought to explain where that Creator is coming from.

I would suggest that most think the Creator is God (Yahweh, Allah, etc). God has always existed, and is infinite ... knows no bounds (as far as we know). Obviously, God could not create the universe and still be a part of it.

I would say that is the consensus, but there are different views.

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-- Every morning brings opportunity;
Each evening offers judgement. --

well, give it about 3 billion years and it just might.

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kiwipat

per ardua ad astra