Mountains of Evidence 4: Vestiges
Anatomical vestiges provide compelling support for evolution, and while they do not exactly falsify the creation theory, they do leave one wondering why any purported designer would include such elements in an efficient design.
Anatomical vestiges provide compelling support for evolution, and while they do not exactly falsify the creation theory, they do leave one wondering why any purported designer would include such elements in an efficient design.
Ostrich wings are not capable of lifting the bird in flight. But there they are. We can conclude that ostriches evolved from flying birds, and their wings, no longer providing a direct survival advantage, have atrophied.
Similarly with the eyes of cave dwellers. Since there is no light, there is no useful purpose to be served by maintaining eyes. Yet there they are - sometimes (as in the case of the blind cave salamander) completely covered by a layer of skin.
In situations where an organ no longer provides a definite survival advantage, then organisms which reduce the load on their metabolism by shrinking them gain a survival benefit.
There are vestigal pelvises in pythons (which have no legs), vestigal flowers in dandelions (which reproduce asexually), vestigal wings in flightless beetles, vestigal wisdom teeth and appendixes in humans.
Note that "vestigal" does not necessarily mean "without function". Ostrich wings are useful in courtship display. The human appendix may serve a purpose to the immune system. "Vestigal" means that an organ is degenerate, shrunken, or no longer required for its original purpose. Evolution predicts that unused organs will shrink to reduce the load on the organism's metabolism. Evolution also predicts that no organism will ever be found with a vestigal organ that was not useful to an ancestor in some way. Hence, we will never find reptiles with vestigal nipples, or mammals with vestigal feathers.
Creation has no explanation of anatomical vestiges other than the whim of the designer. No further explanation is required or desired. Evolution provides the explanation.