SKIRMISHER

Like all modern flatfish, the yellowtail flounder has both eyes on one side of its head. The first flatfishes had one eye on each side.

The change to the current arrangement was gradual, new fossil studies suggest, contradicting the long-held idea of a sudden shift. Intelligent design advocates have said sudden shifts in the fossil record are evidence of a higher power creating new animal forms.

The discovery of a missing link in the evolution of bizarre flatfishes—each of which has both eyes on the same side of its head—could give intelligent design advocates a sinking feeling.

CT scans of 50-million-year-old fossils have revealed an intermediate species between primitive flatfishes (with eyes on both sides of their heads) and the modern, lopsided versions, which include sole, flounder, and halibut.

So the change happened gradually, in a way consistent with evolution via natural selection—not suddenly, as researchers once had little choice but to believe, the authors of the new study say.

The longstanding gap in the flatfish fossil record has long been explained by a “hopeful monster”—scientific jargon for an unknown animal blessed with a severe but helpful mutation that was passed down to its descendants.

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{Intriguing: Non-humans that have made awesome contributions to science}

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