>Thank you for pointing out that the resolution of the fossil record is at
>best 10,000 years. I would like to note that the entire panoply of dog
>breeds have been developed over the past 10,000 years. If a future
>creationist only had the wolf from 10,000 years ago and a St. Bernard and
>Chihuahua from today, he to would then argue that there were no connecting
>links between the wolf and these two modern dog breeds. I can see this
>argument appearing in some creationist book in the year 250,019 A.D. If
>there were also a wolf alive today, the future creationist would be able to
>argue that the wolf could not possibly be the ancestor of the St. Bernard
>and Chihuahua because the wolf and these forms live side by side.
It is worth noting that at least for the genus Canis, there are 100 of your
10,000 year units between its first appearance in the Pliocene and today
(using your time frame) and the wolves as they appear in the Pliocene
differ from modern wolves by far fewer characteristics than say, a
chihuahua differs from a Saint Bernard or a bulldog. Besides, there is a
spirited debate even now about whether they are all one species (Canis
lupus, Canis niger, Canis familiaris and Canis latrans), since even in
nature they are known to interbreed. So arguing about ancestry is a null
point.
Art
http://chadwicka.swau.edu