Jellyfish Fossil Origin and Creation
by Owen Borville
January 3, 2019
Biology, Geology
Jellyfish fossils have been found around the world, including a large collection of jellyfish fossils that has been found in recently in a Wisconsin quarry by fossil dealer Dan Damrow. As jellyfish have no skeleton, bones, or hard parts, a jellyfish would normally decompose within a couple of hours after death. However, some jellyfish fossils have been observed and this particular fossil must have been buried rapidly in order to preserve it. A global flood and its receding floodwaters are a likely source of these fossils, being buried in sand and sometime later the sand hardened into sandstone. Evolutionists claim that jellyfish originated 500 million years ago during the "Cambrian Period" where many species of complex organisms suddenly appeared in the fossil record. Jellyfish are also called living fossils because the fossil versions of them are up to 500 million years old while there are living versions today. In addition, decomposition of organic material occurs faster in sand because of the the larger pore space between the sand grains compared to other types of sediment. Therefore, the fossilization of jellyfish is even more remarkable and only a unique event could have produced these fossils, namely catastrophic burial underwater in opposition to gradual burial methods over longer time periods that the evolutionists commonly support. There is also a lack of evidence of burrowing by small organisms such as worms to decompose the dead jellyfish before fossilization, indicating that the jellyfish fossils were buried quickly and deep enough by multiple layers of sediment to prevent burrowing. Evolutionists must provide other explanations for the fossilization of jellyfish because the rapid burial explanation would contradict their old-earth time frame in the millions of years. Evolutionists usually do admit that jellyfish fossil formation is rare and some unusual catastrophic event created jellyfish fossils, however evolutionists continue to deny the occurrence of the global Genesis Flood less than 5,000 years ago. These jellyfish fossils have been found around the world and give great evidence of the Genesis Flood. Some evolutionists suggest that catastrophic storms could have produced these jellyfish fossils and that the main predators that could have scavenged these fossils, such as birds, had not evolved yet. However, this proposal assumes that macroevolution is true in opposition to the creation model. Creationists have provided much evidence against macroevolution as the origin of species, namely the lack of transitional fossils and the abrupt appearance of new fossil species in the fossil record, including jellyfish fossils. Creationists have also noted that the sediment patterns associated with jellyfish fossils do not show evidence of a storm environment, such preserved sand ripples characteristic of flowing water during a flooding event while storm tides would have destroyed the ripples. An interesting point about the Wisconsin jellyfish fossil discovery is that while the find was reported by the media in early 2002, the discovery was made about four years earlier, which raises questions about why the story was reported so long after the discovery. Could it be that the media postponed reporting this story because it includes strong evidence against evolution?
(1) Hundreds of Jellyfish Fossils, Catchpoole, David. Creation 25(4):32–33—September 2003.
(2) Jellyfish Horde Uncovered After Half a Billion Years. The New York Times, Jan. 26, 2002.
(3) Rare Jellyfish Fossils Unearthed in Wisconsin. The LA Times, Feb. 17. 2002.
by Owen Borville
January 3, 2019
Biology, Geology
Jellyfish fossils have been found around the world, including a large collection of jellyfish fossils that has been found in recently in a Wisconsin quarry by fossil dealer Dan Damrow. As jellyfish have no skeleton, bones, or hard parts, a jellyfish would normally decompose within a couple of hours after death. However, some jellyfish fossils have been observed and this particular fossil must have been buried rapidly in order to preserve it. A global flood and its receding floodwaters are a likely source of these fossils, being buried in sand and sometime later the sand hardened into sandstone. Evolutionists claim that jellyfish originated 500 million years ago during the "Cambrian Period" where many species of complex organisms suddenly appeared in the fossil record. Jellyfish are also called living fossils because the fossil versions of them are up to 500 million years old while there are living versions today. In addition, decomposition of organic material occurs faster in sand because of the the larger pore space between the sand grains compared to other types of sediment. Therefore, the fossilization of jellyfish is even more remarkable and only a unique event could have produced these fossils, namely catastrophic burial underwater in opposition to gradual burial methods over longer time periods that the evolutionists commonly support. There is also a lack of evidence of burrowing by small organisms such as worms to decompose the dead jellyfish before fossilization, indicating that the jellyfish fossils were buried quickly and deep enough by multiple layers of sediment to prevent burrowing. Evolutionists must provide other explanations for the fossilization of jellyfish because the rapid burial explanation would contradict their old-earth time frame in the millions of years. Evolutionists usually do admit that jellyfish fossil formation is rare and some unusual catastrophic event created jellyfish fossils, however evolutionists continue to deny the occurrence of the global Genesis Flood less than 5,000 years ago. These jellyfish fossils have been found around the world and give great evidence of the Genesis Flood. Some evolutionists suggest that catastrophic storms could have produced these jellyfish fossils and that the main predators that could have scavenged these fossils, such as birds, had not evolved yet. However, this proposal assumes that macroevolution is true in opposition to the creation model. Creationists have provided much evidence against macroevolution as the origin of species, namely the lack of transitional fossils and the abrupt appearance of new fossil species in the fossil record, including jellyfish fossils. Creationists have also noted that the sediment patterns associated with jellyfish fossils do not show evidence of a storm environment, such preserved sand ripples characteristic of flowing water during a flooding event while storm tides would have destroyed the ripples. An interesting point about the Wisconsin jellyfish fossil discovery is that while the find was reported by the media in early 2002, the discovery was made about four years earlier, which raises questions about why the story was reported so long after the discovery. Could it be that the media postponed reporting this story because it includes strong evidence against evolution?
(1) Hundreds of Jellyfish Fossils, Catchpoole, David. Creation 25(4):32–33—September 2003.
(2) Jellyfish Horde Uncovered After Half a Billion Years. The New York Times, Jan. 26, 2002.
(3) Rare Jellyfish Fossils Unearthed in Wisconsin. The LA Times, Feb. 17. 2002.
