"The known fossil record fails to document a single example of phyletic evolution accomplishing a major morphological transition and hence offers no evidence that the gradualistic model can be valid."--Steven M. Stanley (Source: Macroevolution: Pattern and Process, p. 39)
"Apart from very 'modern' examples, which are really archaeology, I can think of no cases of radioactive decay being used to date fossils."--Derek Ager (Source: "Fossil Frustrations," New Scientist, vol.100, 10 November 1983, p. 425)
"In other words, when the presumed evolutionary processes did not match the pattern of fossils that they were supposed to have generated, the pattern was judged to be 'wrong.' A circular argument arises: interpret the fossil record in terms of a particular theory of evolution, inspect the interpretation, and note that it confirms the theory. Well, it would, wouldn't it?"--Tom S. Kemp, Curator, University Museum, Oxford University (Source: "A Fresh Look at the Fossil Record," New Scientist, vol. 108, 5 December 1985, p. 66)
"The age of the globe is presently thought to be some 4.5 billion years, based on the radiodecay rates of uranium and thorium. Such 'confirmation' may be short-lived, as nature is not to be discovered quite so easily. There has been in recent years the horrible realization that radiodecay rates are not as constant as previously thought, nor are they immune to environmental influences. And this could mean that the atomic clocks are reset during some global disaster, and the events which brought the Mesozoic to a close may not have been 65 million years ago but, rather, within the age and memory of man."--Frederic B. Jueneman (Source: "Secular Catastrophism," Industrial Research and Development, June 1982, p. 21)
"If most evolutionary changes occur during speciation events and if speciation events are largely random, natural selection, long viewed as a process guiding evolutionary change, cannot play a significant role in determining the overall course of evolution."--Steven M. Stanley (Source: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, vol. 72, 1975, p. 648)
"Mutations, in time, occur incoherently. They are not complementary to one another, nor are they cumulative in successive generations toward a given direction. They modify what pre-exists, but they do so in disorder."--Pierre-Paul Grasse (Source: Evolution of Living Organisms, pp. 97-98)
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