Transitional Fossils & Evolution – What Are Transitional Fossils?
Fossils that show intermediate characteristics are called transitional fossils — they have characteristics that are intermediate in nature to organisms that existed both prior to it and after it. Transitional fossils are strongly suggestive of evolution because they indicate the progression of from just as evolutionary theory predicts. Transitional fossils are frequently misunderstood, and like macroevolution, creationists tend to redefine the term to suit their purposes. There are many examples of transitional fossils in the fossil record, including large-scale transitions such as from reptiles to birds (like the controversial archaeopteryx) and from reptiles to mammals, as well as more detailed transitions, such as those among the many hominids or the development of horses. The fact that, despite the rarity of fossilization, we have a wealth of transitional fossil data and that the fossil data generally conforms to the phylogenetic tree is strongly supportive of the idea of evolution
