---
title: "35 Fossil Record Quotes by 26 authors"
description: "Browse 35 Fossil Record quotes by 26 authors. Discover the best Fossil Record sayings and thoughts."
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e05/donald-revell-17004_fossil_the-fossil-record-quietly-accounts-for-m_3217161.jpg"
---

> [“The fossil record quietly accounts for me...”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donald-revell/the-fossil-record-quietly-accounts-for-me/)

[Donald Revell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donald-revell/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e05/donald-revell-17004_fossil_the-fossil-record-quietly-accounts-for-m_3217161.jpg)

> [The fossil record is incredible when it preserves things, but it's not a complete record.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-horner/the-fossil-record-is-incredible-when-it-preserves-things-but-it-s-not/)

[Jack Horner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-horner/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a3c/jack-horner-17522_complete_the-fossil-record-is-incredible-when-it_1348609.jpg)

> [Sometime in the first billion years, life appeared on the earth's surface. Slowly, the fossil record indicates, living organisms climbed the ladder…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-jastrow/sometime-in-the-first-billion-years-life-appeared-on-the-earth-s/)

[Robert Jastrow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-jastrow/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/532/robert-jastrow-31181_billions_sometime-in-the-first-billion-years-life_2231643.jpg)

> [“The fossil record implies trial and error, an inability to anticipate the future, features inconsistent with an efficient Great Designer.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sagan/the-fossil-record-implies-trial-and-error-an-inability-to-anticipate-2/)

[Carl Sagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-sagan/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c2b/carl-sagan-160_time_the-fossil-record-implies-trial-and-erro_2029560.jpg)

> [Charles Darwin viewed the fossil record more as an embarrassment than as an aid to his theory ...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-jay-gould/charles-darwin-viewed-the-fossil-record-more-as-an-embarrassment-than/)

[Stephen Jay Gould](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-jay-gould/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/89f/stephen-jay-gould-885_aids_charles-darwin-viewed-the-fossil-record_26737.png)

> [“Thanks to their hardness, teeth are often the best-preserved animal part we find in the fossil record for many time periods.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-shubin/thanks-to-their-hardness-teeth-are-often-the-best-preserved-animal/)

[Neil Shubin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-shubin/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a55/neil-shubin-14335_evolution_thanks-to-their-hardness-teeth-are-often_3221253.png)

> [“Every word Martone sets down, finally, a choice that limits the universe, their trail across the page a fossil record of some…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-martone/every-word-martone-sets-down-finally-a-choice-that-limits-the/)

[Michael Martone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-martone/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fe6/michael-martone-105486_fossil_every-word-martone-sets-down-finally-a-c_2825580.jpg)

> [Palaeontologists cannot live by uniformitarianism alone. This may be termed the Phenomenon of the Fallibility of the Fossil Record.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/d-v-ager/palaeontologists-cannot-live-by-uniformitarianism-alone-this-may-be/)

[D. V. Ager](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/d-v-ager/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0e6/d-v-ager-42699_evolution_palaeontologists-cannot-live-by-uniformi_727807.jpg)

> [“...but I still think that to the unprejudiced, the fossil record of plants is in favor of special creation.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-j-h-corner/but-i-still-think-that-to-the-unprejudiced-the-fossil-record-of/)

[E.J.H. Corner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-j-h-corner/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2fa/e-j-h-corner-234333_creation_but-i-still-think-that-to-the-unprejudic_126253.jpg)

> [The extreme rarity of transitional forms in the fossil record persists as the trade secret of paleontology.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/soren-kierkegaard/the-extreme-rarity-of-transitional-forms-in-the-fossil-record-2/)

[Soren Kierkegaard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/soren-kierkegaard/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b61/soren-kierkegaard-578_creation-and-evoluti_the-extreme-rarity-of-transitional-forms_2751763.jpg)

> [Darwin's prediction of rampant, albeit gradual, change affecting all lineages through time is refuted. The record is there, and the record speaks…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/niles-eldredge/darwin-s-prediction-of-rampant-albeit-gradual-change-affecting-all/)

[Niles Eldredge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/niles-eldredge/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6d1/niles-eldredge-44808_change_darwin-s-prediction-of-rampant-albeit-gr_952880.png)

> [The known fossil record fails to document a single example of phyletic evolution i.e., a species becoming a new species accomplishing a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-m-stanley/the-known-fossil-record-fails-to-document-a-single-example-of/)

[Steven M. Stanley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-m-stanley/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0c5/steven-m-stanley-84043_becoming_the-known-fossil-record-fails-to-documen_1852392.jpg)

> [There are gaps in the fossil graveyard, places where there should be intermediate forms, but where there is nothing whatsoever instead. No…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-berlinski/there-are-gaps-in-the-fossil-graveyard-places-where-there-should-be/)

[David Berlinski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-berlinski/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c20/david-berlinski-16009_conflict_there-are-gaps-in-the-fossil-graveyard-p_2032392.png)

> [The extreme rarity of transitional forms in the fossil record persists as a trade secret of Paleontology. Evolutionary trees that adorn our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-jay-gould/the-extreme-rarity-of-transitional-forms-in-the-fossil-record/)

[Stephen Jay Gould](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-jay-gould/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/02a/stephen-jay-gould-885_branches_the-extreme-rarity-of-transitional-forms_1589535.jpg)

> [The fossil record implies trial and error, an inability to anticipate the future, features inconsistent with an efficient Great Designer (although not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sagan/the-fossil-record-implies-trial-and-error-an-inability-to-anticipate/)

[Carl Sagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-sagan/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/df6/carl-sagan-160_anticipate_the-fossil-record-implies-trial-and-erro_1944350.jpg)

> [“According to the fossil record, Neanderthals appeared between 300,000 and 400,000 years ago and existed until about 30,000 years ago. Throughout their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/svante-p-bo/according-to-the-fossil-record-neanderthals-appeared-between-300-000/)

[Svante Pääbo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/svante-p-bo/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f40/svante-p-bo-36887_evolution_according-to-the-fossil-record-neanderth_1823565.jpg)

> [What the fossil record does do is to force us to contemplate our place on the planet. We are but one species…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louise-leakey/what-the-fossil-record-does-do-is-to-force-us-to-contemplate-our/)

[Louise Leakey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louise-leakey/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/66a/louise-leakey-36237_also_what-the-fossil-record-does-do-is-to-for_2086440.png)

> [On a perfect planet such as might be acceptable to a physicist, one might predict that from its origin the diversity of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simon-conway-morris/on-a-perfect-planet-such-as-might-be-acceptable-to-a-physicist-one/)

[Simon Conway Morris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simon-conway-morris/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/61f/simon-conway-morris-27873_acceptable_on-a-perfect-planet-such-as-might-be-acc_1099106.png)

> [There are about 250,000 different species of fossil plants and animals known . . In spite of this large quantity of information,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-m-raup/there-are-about-250-000-different-species-of-fossil-plants-and/)

[David M. Raup](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-m-raup/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/37b/david-m-raup-33751_animal_there-are-about-250-000-different-specie_264230.jpg)

> [“In short, the fossil record is perfectly compatible with the supposition that at some time between eight and six million years ago,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elaine-morgan/in-short-the-fossil-record-is-perfectly-compatible-with-the/)

[Elaine Morgan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elaine-morgan/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/44d/elaine-morgan-33015_life_in-short-the-fossil-record-is-perfectly_2109206.jpg)

> [“The phrase 'the fossil record' sounds impressive and authoritative. As used by some persons it becomes, as intended, intimidating, taking on the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gareth-j-nelson/the-phrase-the-fossil-record-sounds-impressive-and-authoritative-as/)

[Gareth J. Nelson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gareth-j-nelson/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cae/gareth-j-nelson-101099_biology_the-phrase-the-fossil-record-sounds-impr_729314.jpg)

> [Where did love begin?What human being looked at another and saw in their face the forests and the sea? Was there a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeanette-winterson/where-did-love-begin-what-human-being-looked-at-another-and-saw-in-2/)

[Jeanette Winterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeanette-winterson/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c0e/jeanette-winterson-166_ancestor_where-did-love-begin-what-human-being-lo_1077467.jpg)

> [A large number of well-trained scientists outside of evolutionary biology and paleontology have unfortunately gotten the idea that the fossil record is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-m-raup/a-large-number-of-well-trained-scientists-outside-of-evolutionary/)

[David M. Raup](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-m-raup/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/74b/david-m-raup-33751_articles_a-large-number-of-well-trained-scientist_2418951.jpg)

> [“The fossil record is always there, whether or not you discover it. The brittle ghosts of the past. Memory is not like…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeanette-winterson/the-fossil-record-is-always-there-whether-or-not-you-discover-it-the/)

[Jeanette Winterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeanette-winterson/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0e1/jeanette-winterson-166_another-life_the-fossil-record-is-always-there-whethe_3058085.jpg)

> [We don't need fossils - the case for evolution is watertight without them; so it is paradoxical to use gaps in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/we-don-t-need-fossils-the-case-for-evolution-is-watertight-without/)

[Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/10c/richard-dawkins-115_cases_we-don-t-need-fossils-the-case-for-evolu_1550234.jpg)

> [The fossil record contains no trace of these preliminary stages in the development of many-celled organisms.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-jastrow/the-fossil-record-contains-no-trace-of-these-preliminary-stages-in/)

[Robert Jastrow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-jastrow/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b8c/robert-jastrow-31181_development_the-fossil-record-contains-no-trace-of-t_1078112.jpg)

> [Humans will eventually become extinct. People treat that as a radical thing to say. But the fossil record shows us that everything…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-kolbert/humans-will-eventually-become-extinct-people-treat-that-as-a-radical-2/)

[Elizabeth Kolbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-kolbert/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1ae/elizabeth-kolbert-7570_extinct_humans-will-eventually-become-extinct-pe_1200293.png)

> [Since we proposed punctuated equilibria to explain trends, it is infuriating to be quoted again and again by creationists-whether through design or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-jay-gould/since-we-proposed-punctuated-equilibria-to-explain-trends-it-is/)

[Stephen Jay Gould](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-jay-gould/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fec/stephen-jay-gould-885_admitting_since-we-proposed-punctuated-equilibria_2081174.png)

> [Wherever we look at the living biota … discontinuities are overwhelmingly frequent…The discontinuities are even more striking in the fossil record. New…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernst-mayr/wherever-we-look-at-the-living-biota-discontinuities-are/)

[Ernst Mayr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernst-mayr/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e10/ernst-mayr-13171_ancestor_wherever-we-look-at-the-living-biota-dis_914954.png)

> [The question of the origin of life is essentially speculative. We have to construct, by straightforward thinking on the basis of very…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-desmond-bernal/the-question-of-the-origin-of-life-is-essentially-speculative-we-have/)

[John Desmond Bernal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-desmond-bernal/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/aee/john-desmond-bernal-14871_bases_the-question-of-the-origin-of-life-is-es_1746863.png)

> [They say, you know, about evolution, it surely happened because their fossil record shows that. Look, my body and your body are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kurt-vonnegut/they-say-you-know-about-evolution-it-surely-happened-because-their/)

[Kurt Vonnegut](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kurt-vonnegut/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/78e/kurt-vonnegut-41_answers_they-say-you-know-about-evolution-it-sur_699446.jpg)

> [“The idea that one can go to the fossil record and expect to empirically recover an ancestor-descendant sequence, be it of species,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gareth-j-nelson/the-idea-that-one-can-go-to-the-fossil-record-and-expect-to/)

[Gareth J. Nelson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gareth-j-nelson/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/524/gareth-j-nelson-101099_biology_the-idea-that-one-can-go-to-the-fossil-r_1744378.jpg)

> [As you know, the fossil record includes not only the ancestors of crocodiles and whales, but also the ancestors of human beings.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenneth-r-miller/as-you-know-the-fossil-record-includes-not-only-the-ancestors-of/)

[Kenneth R. Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kenneth-r-miller/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/394/kenneth-r-miller-17867_also_as-you-know-the-fossil-record-includes-n_3007972.png)

> [The fossil record implies trial and error, the inability to anticipate the future, features inconsistent with a Great Designer (though not a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sagan/the-fossil-record-implies-trial-and-error-the-inability-to-anticipate/)

[Carl Sagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-sagan/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1cc/carl-sagan-160_anticipate_the-fossil-record-implies-trial-and-erro_132790.jpg)

> [“Each plant and animal is exquisitely made; should not a supremely competent Designer have been able to make the intended variety from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sagan/each-plant-and-animal-is-exquisitely-made-should-not-a-supremely/)

[Carl Sagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-sagan/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fdd/carl-sagan-160_evolution_each-plant-and-animal-is-exquisitely-mad_581236.jpg)

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                        "text": "The extreme rarity of transitional forms in the fossil record persists as a trade secret of Paleontology. Evolutionary trees that adorn our textbooks have data only at the tips and nodes of their branches; the rest is inference, however reasonable, not the evidence of fossils.",
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                        "text": "“According to the fossil record, Neanderthals appeared between 300,000 and 400,000 years ago and existed until about 30,000 years ago. Throughout their entire existence their technology did not change much.”",
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                        "text": "What the fossil record does do is to force us to contemplate our place on the planet. We are but one species of several hominids that inhabited Planet Earth, and like our distant cousins who went extinct fairly recently, our time on Planet Earth is also finite.",
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                        "text": "On a perfect planet such as might be acceptable to a physicist, one might predict that from its origin the diversity of life would grow exponentially until the carrying capacity, however defined, was reached. The fossil record on Earth, however, tells a very different story.",
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                        "text": "There are about 250,000 different species of fossil plants and animals known . . In spite of this large quantity of information, it is but a tiny fraction of the diversity that [according to the theory] actually lived in the past. There are well over a million species living today and . . [it is] possible to predict how many species ought to be in our fossil record. That number is at least 100 times the number we have found.",
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                        "text": "“In short, the fossil record is perfectly compatible with the supposition that at some time between eight and six million years ago, at the north end of the Rift Valley where the most ancient hominid remains have been found, one section of the l. c. a. population found itself living in a watery environment and—whether by choice or under duress—began to adapt to a semi-aquatic existence.”",
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                        "text": "“The phrase 'the fossil record' sounds impressive and authoritative. As used by some persons it becomes, as intended, intimidating, taking on the aura of esoteric truth as expounded by an elite class of specialists. But what is it, really, this fossil record? Only data in search of interpretation. All claims to the contrary that I know, and I know of several, are so much superstition.”",
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                        "text": "Where did love begin?What human being looked at another and saw in their face the forests and the sea? Was there a day, exhausted and weary,dragging home food, arms cut and scarred, that you saw yellow flowers and, not knowing what you did, picked them because I love you? In the fossil record of our existence, there is no trace of love. You cannot find it held in the earth's crust, waiting to be discovered. The long bones of our ancestors show nothing of their hearts.",
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                        "text": "A large number of well-trained scientists outside of evolutionary biology and paleontology have unfortunately gotten the idea that the fossil record is far more Darwinian than it is. This probably comes from the oversimplification inevitable in secondary sources: low-level textbooks semipopular articles, and so on. Also, there is probably some wishful thinking involved. In the years after Darwin, his advocates hoped to find predictable progressions. In general. these have not been found-yet the optimism has died hard and some pure fantasy has crept into textbooks.",
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                        "text": "“The fossil record is always there, whether or not you discover it. The brittle ghosts of the past. Memory is not like the surface of the water - either troubled or still. Memory is layered. What you were was another life, but the evidence is somewhere in your rock - your trilobites and ammonites, your struggling life-forms, just when you thought you could stand upright.”",
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                        "text": "We don't need fossils - the case for evolution is watertight without them; so it is paradoxical to use gaps in the fossil record as though they were evidence against evolution",
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                        "text": "The fossil record contains no trace of these preliminary stages in the development of many-celled organisms.",
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                        "text": "Humans will eventually become extinct. People treat that as a radical thing to say. But the fossil record shows us that everything eventually becomes extinct.",
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                        "text": "Since we proposed punctuated equilibria to explain trends, it is infuriating to be quoted again and again by creationists-whether through design or stupidity, I do not know-as admitting that the fossil record includes no transitional forms. Transitional forms are generally lacking at the species level, but they are abundant between larger groups.",
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                        "text": "Wherever we look at the living biota … discontinuities are overwhelmingly frequent…The discontinuities are even more striking in the fossil record. New species usually appear in the fossil record suddenly, not connected with their ancestors by a series of intermediates.",
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                        "text": "The question of the origin of life is essentially speculative. We have to construct, by straightforward thinking on the basis of very few factual observations, a plausible and self-consistent picture of a process which must have occurred before any of the forms which are known to us in the fossil record could have existed.",
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                        "text": "They say, you know, about evolution, it surely happened because their fossil record shows that. Look, my body and your body are miracles of design. Scientists are pretending they have the answer as how we got this way when natural selection couldn't possibly have produced such machines.",
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                        "text": "“The idea that one can go to the fossil record and expect to empirically recover an ancestor-descendant sequence, be it of species, genera, families, or whatever, has been, and continues to be, a pernicious illusion.”",
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                        "text": "As you know, the fossil record includes not only the ancestors of crocodiles and whales, but also the ancestors of human beings. And this, of course, is why evolution remains controversial.",
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                        "text": "“Each plant and animal is exquisitely made; should not a supremely competent Designer have been able to make the intended variety from the start? The fossil record implies trial and error, an inability to anticipate the future, features inconsistent with an efficient Great Designer (although not with a Designer of a more remote and indirect temperament).”",
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