Fish Fossils Form Fast

Editors Note: Hat tip to Standing For Truth, George Bond, and Joseph Hubbard for pointing us to this. Even with our obvious interest in marine creatures, we were not aware of this process.

Fossil fish are quite common in the fossil record. The story spun by evolutionists is that these fish died, sank to the bottom, and were slowly buried over time. However, there are a lot of flaws with this story. However one of the less intuitive flaws involves cold water fish. Unlike warmer water fish, cold water fish actually do have a chance of sinking to the bottom instead of floating like many of us are used to. In theory, this could allow the evolutionist a path to fish fossils. However, all is not as it seems.

It turns out that when fish sink, they don’t just sit there and wait to be fossilized. Generally they are quickly scavenged. However, even if scavenging took place quickly, the skeleton would be left behind by most scavengers, giving ample opportunity for fossilization. This does not happen. The bones contain valuable minerals and, in the fallen world we live in, nothing is wasted. It turns out there is a group of specialized pseudofungi called oomycetes that step in here.

Oomycetes are unique types of organism that don’t quite fit in any classification scheme. I used the word “pseudofungi” above because they used to be classed as fungi, but have been moved around and no one is quite sure where to put them. The particular genus of oomycetes that is relevant to this discussion is genus Saprolegnia. All species of Saprolegnia are either saprophytes or parasites, meaning they obtain their nutrients either from dead things or from leeching them from living organisms. The species in question here are commonly found in fish farms where there are ready sources of food. However, when a fish dies in the cooler water most farms use for food fish, it sinks the the bottom. At that point, the Saprolegnia go to work.

It is possible for Saprolegnia to infect healthy fish. When they do, it is termed Saprolegniasis. However, it is after death that these oomycetes are most voracious. Without the fishes innate immune system to fight them anymore, the Saprolegnia go into a full blown feeding frenzy. They begin to break the unfortunate fish down, consuming everything from scales, all the way down to the bones. Nothing is wasted, nothing is left behind.

Now let us consider the evolutionary scenario once more. A fish dies, sinks to the bottom, lays there for missions of years while it is being fossilized before being discovered in modern times. Does any of that fit the evidence? Absolutely none of it does. Most of the time fish float when they die. Only under cooler water conditions do fish sink. Further, once fish do sink to the bottom, they are met by ravenous predators and scavengers on the sea floor who are not too picky about where their food comes from. Even supposing that a dead fish manages, without the aid of swimming, to evade the predators, it then has to survive the saprophytes like Saprolegnia. The odds of avoiding the clean up crew are basically zero. You might get a few fish here or there that would survive unscathed, but not the huge quantity of fossil fish we observe.

However, the Biblical flood scenario makes good sense of the evidence. In the flood model, the vast majority of the fish fossils would have been buried alive, or just after death. This would prevent scavengers like the oomycetes from getting to them. Further it would insulate them from oxygen, which breaks down anything it comes in contact with. Surrounded by minerals and permineralized water, and under immense pressure from the layers rapidly forming above them, the fossils could have been formed very quickly.

As usual, the weight of the evidence conflicts the evolutionary scenario, but supports the Biblical narrative. Despite the weight of the evidence firmly supporting the Bible, both in this case and many many others, I do not expect the evolutionists to be swayed by it. The creation/evolution issue is not, and never has been a science issue. It has always been a worldview issue. Until the sinful worldview of the evolutionists changes, they will never accept any evidence the creationists present, even if it means contradicting observed reality.

Do you know what’s going to happen when you die? Are you completely sure? If you aren’t, please read this or listen to this. You can know where you will spend eternity. If you have questions, please feel free to contact us, we’d love to talk to you.