"Amphistium is a transition to modern asymmetric flatfish" (Claim #E7583)
Response
Actually, even modern asymmetrical flatfish live their early lives with symmetrical eyes, and then one eye migrates to the other side. 1 Thus, a fossil with somewhat of asymmetry does not prove that it was a transitional form at all. 2
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Sources
Coyne, J. A. (2009). Why Evolution Is True. New York: Viking.
Notes
- Coyne, 2009, p. 81: “Flatfish are born as normal-looking fish that swin vertically, with one eye placed on each side of a pancake-shaped body. But a month thereafter, a strange thing happens: one eye begins to move upward. It migrates over the skull and joins the other eye to form a pair of eyes on one side of the body, either right or left, depending on the species. The skull also changes its shape to promote this movement, and there are changes in the fins and color. In concert, the flatfish tips onto its newly eyeless side, so that both eyes are now on top. It becomes a flat camouflaged bottom-dweller that preys on other fish.” ↩
- http://www.answersingenesis.org/articles/2012/07/14/news-to-note-07142012: “Adult flatfish, with their bizarre cranial asymmetry, actually begin life with cranial symmetry. Then, as a flatfish larva develops into a juvenile flatfish, one eye migrates to the other side of the head. Juvenile flatfish are known to swim at odd angles until the development is complete and they adapt. Not only is this orbital transit a normal part of flatfish development, but at every stage of the process the fish is still a fish.” ↩