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Evolution does not occur in a straight line toward a goal, like a ladder; rather, evolution is like a branching bush, with no predetermined goal. Horse species were constantly branching off the evolutionary tree and evolving along various unrelated routes. There’s no discernable straight line of horse evolution. Many horse species were usually present at the same time, with various numbers of toes, and adapted to various diets. In other words, horse evolution had no inherent direction. We only have the impression of straight line evolution because only one genus happens to still be alive, which deceives some people into thinking that the one genus was somehow the target of all the evolution. Instead, that one genus is merely the last surviving branch of a once mighty and sprawling bush. Tracing a line of descent from Hyracotherium to Equus reveals several apparent trends: reduction of toe number, increase in size of cheek teeth, lengthening of the face, and increase in body size. But these trends are not seen in all of the horse lines. On the whole, horses got larger, but some horses then got smaller again. Many recent horses evolved complex facial pits, and then some of their descendants lost them again. Most of the recent horses were three-toed, not one-toed, and we see a trend to one toe only because all the three-toed line have recently become extinct. Additionally, these traits do not necessarily evolve together, or at a steady rate. The various morphological characters each evolve in fits and starts, and did not evolve as a suite of characters. For example, throughout the Eocene, the feet changed a little, and only the teeth evolved. Throughout the Miocene, both feet and teeth evolved rapidly. Rates of evolution depend on the ecological Sometimes, new species split off from their ancestors and then co-existed with those ancestors. Other species came into being through anagenetic transformation of the ancestor had changed appearance enough to be given a new name. Sometimes only one or a few species arose, sometimes there were long periods of stasis, and sometimes thee were enormous bursts of evolution, when new ecological opportunities arose such as, the Merychippine Radiation. Again, evolution proceeds according to the ecological pressures facing the individuals of a species and on the variation present within that species. Evolution takes place in the real world, with diverse rates and modes, and cannot be reduced to a single, simple process. Creationists who wish to deny the evidence of horse evolution should carefully consider the explanation of the sequence of horse fossils? Even if creationists insist on ignoring the transitional fossils, many of which have been found, again, how can the unmistakable sequence of these fossils be explained? Did God create Hyracotherium, then kill off the Hyracotherium and create some Hyracotherium-Orohippus intermediates, then kill off the intermediates and create Orohippus, then kill off Orohippus and create Epihippus, then allow Epihippus to micro-evolve into Duchesnehippus, then kill off Duchesnehippus and create Mesohippus, then create Mesohippus- Miohippus intermediates, then create Miohippus, then kill off Mesohippus, and so on. Each species coincidentally similar to the species that came just Creationism utterly fails to explain the sequence of known horse fossils from the last 50 million years. That is without invoking the “God Created Everything To Look Just Like Evolution Happened” Theory. Truly persistent or desperate creationists are thus forced into illogical, unjustified attacks of fossil dating methods, or irrelevant and usually flat-out wrong proclamations about a supposed lack of transitional forms. It’s sad. To me, the horse fossils tell a magnificent and fascinating story, of millions of animals living out their lives, in their natural world, through millions of years. I am a dedicated horse rider and am very happy that the one-toed grazing Equus survived to the present. Evolution in no way impedes my ability to admire the beauty and nobility of these animals. Instead, it enriches my appreciation and understanding of modern horses and their rich history. Bibliography: Word Count: 725
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