Fossils sorted by ability to escape (Talk.Origins)

Response ArticleThis article (Fossils sorted by ability to escape (Talk.Origins)) is a response to a rebuttal of a creationist claim published by Talk.Origins Archive under the title Index to Creationist Claims.

Index

Claim CH561.3:

The order of fossils in the fossil record is explained by animals' ability to escape the rising floodwaters. Slow animals, such as clams, are found low in the fossil record, while quicker animals such as mammals and birds appear higher.

Source: Morris, Henry M., 1974. Scientific Creationism, Green Forest, AR: Master Books, p. 119.

CreationWiki response:

Differential escape was never intended to be the only process that affected fossil order. This is evident by the fact that in the same pages Morris refers to ecological zonation and other factors. By isolating differential escape Talk.Origins is turning it into a Straw Man.

Furthermore, as Morris points out on page 120, this factor only produces statistical trends and so exceptions are bound to occur. Differential escape simply shows a statistical tendency for organisms that can best escape rising flood water to be buried higher than others. By itself differential escape does not do the job nor was it ever intended to.