May 19, 2004 | David F. Coppedge

Fossil Water Lily Matches Modern

Three Cornell botanists found fossil water lilies from the early Cretaceous that look nearly identical to modern ones, except that they are smaller.  The exquisitely-detailed fossils were preserved in a New Jersey clay pit by a process of coalification.  Water lilies (family Nymphaeaceae) are presumed by evolutionists to be among the earliest flowering plants (angiosperms).  These ancient specimens apparently trapped beetles for pollination the same way as their living counterparts, “suggesting that many modern insect�plant associations were already established by this time,” (~90 million years ago).”  The paper is published in PNAS.1


1Gandolfo, Nixon and Crepet, “Cretaceous flowers of Nymphaeaceae and implications for complex insect entrapment pollination mechanisms in early Angiosperms,” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA, 10.1073/pnas.0402473101.

The paper shows fine details that make it hard to believe these impressions are that old, but that is where evolutionary theory has to put them into their mythical timeline.  No evolution, again; the fossils are spitting images for modern water lilies, elaborate pollination structures and all, except smaller – but size is a minor matter compared to the machinery required to produce structure.  Maybe they just haven’t found big ones yet.  These specimens exhibit “precise and dramatic correspondence between the fossil floral morphology and that of modern Victoria [Amazon water lily] flowers,” they announce with apparent surprise.  Enough to give Charlie another bout of indigestion.
    Poor evolutionists.  They keep trying to find simple ancestors for things, and in every kingdom, phylum, class, order, family, genus and species they find the oldest specimens are just as complex as those alive today.  Anyone see evolution here?  Keep hunting; our selfish, materialistic world is counting on you.

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