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Index to Creationist Claims,  edited by Mark Isaak,    Copyright © 2005
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Claim CB302:

The ear is too complex to have evolved.

Source:

Brown, Walt. 1995. In the Beginning: Compelling evidence for creation and the Flood. Phoenix, AZ: Center for Scientific Creation, p. 7.

Response:

  1. Not much complexity is needed for a functional ear. All that is necessary is a nerve connected to something that can vibrate. Insects have evolved "ears" on at least eleven different parts of their bodies, from antennae to legs (Hoy and Robert 1996). Even humans detect very low frequencies via tactile sensation, not through their ears.

  2. The transition from reptile to mammal shows some of the intermediate stages in human hearing. Jaw bones, which likely helped the hearing of therapsid reptiles, became co-opted exclusively for hearing in the middle ear.

  3. This is an example of the argument from incredulity. That one does not know how something happened does not mean it cannot have happened.

References:

  1. Hoy, R. R. and D. Robert. 1996. Tympanal hearing in insects. Annual Review of Entomology 41: 433-450.

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created 2003-6-13