Those who advocate for naturalism assume uniformitarianism – that no process has ever occurred on Earth that is not happening today. When researchers find a fossil, they assume that the preservation of that fossil was accomplished by the same natural processes that are preserving biological material today. In the past, some in the scientific community have challenged the discovery of an asteroid strike, which apparently caused the extinction of the dinosaurs. They rejected it because it would violate uniformitarianism. However, some discoveries don’t fit uniformitarianism, and various theories of the history of life on Earth change with new evidence.
Reconstruction of the chromosomes of a woolly mammoth found in Siberian permafrost has given new information. This animal was quickly freeze-dried, preserving the 3-D structure of ancient chromosomes containing DNA. Dehydrated chromatin was preserved in a unique state resembling the molecules in glass.
This remarkable find allowed scientists to determine that the woolly mammoth had 28 pairs of chromosomes. Modern elephants also have 28 chromosome pairs, so researchers can discover which genes regulating hair follicle development were active in key positions, explaining why the mammoths were woolly and modern elephants are not. This 52,000 year old specimen opens a whole new area of study of the history of life on Earth.
Another message of the discovery of this specimen is that it re-opens the discussion of whether uniformitarianism is a valid assumption to understand the history of life on Earth.
In our personal trips to Alaska, we have seen other specimens of animals frozen in the permafrost. In the 1970s, gold miners discovered frozen bison, one called Blue Babe, because of its staining from minerals in the area. This specimen was put on display in the University of Alaska Museum in 1979. It had claw marks, which were believed to be from a lion. In 2012, another bison specimen named Bison Bob was discovered, and other animals were found frozen in the same layers of permafrost.
The Bible tells us that events have happened in the past that are not uniformitarian. They are rare, but those events are a clear indicator that naturalism and uniformitarianism are not good assumptions in building an understanding of Earth’s history.
— John N. Clayton © 2024
References: “Woolly mammoth chromosomes reconstructed using fossilized sample,” The National Science Foundation, nsf.gov for July 12, 2024, and wikipedia.org