Speleology Without Evolution

“Steven Taylor, a macro-invertebrate biologist with the Illinois Natural History Survey at the University of Illinois, has spent more than two decades plumbing the mysteries of cave life,” an article said on PhysOrg, based on a press release from the University of Illinois.  The article describes his adventures in tight, dark spots in numerous caves, studying the bizarre creatures of the dark that live in these ecological “islands” cut off from the outside world.  The article did not mention evolution once.

See?  Good science can be done without Darwin.  Whether Taylor believes in evolution or not is beside the point; the guy was observing, cataloging, and studying the effects of the above-ground environment on the creatures below ground.  He was adding to our knowledge and understanding.  Evolution had nothing to do with it (see quote, top right of this page).
    Caves are fascinating environments that can provide interesting insight into ecology and natural variation and genetic drift (e.g., loss of vision in cave fish; see 04/09/2010, 01/08/2008), without any requirement to believe cave creatures are evolving upward in complexity.  In fact, there are good reasons to doubt Darwin when studying caves (e.g., 10/18/2004, 02/16/2007).  For a creationist view of cave formation and cave ecology, be sure to get The Cave Book by Dr. Emil Silvestru, a geologist who has spent much of his life studying caves (see Resource of the Week for 03/13/2010).