The many layers of the fossil record are basically divided into 3 eras of geological time: Paleozoic, Mesozoic, and Cenozoic. They are characterized by different kinds of fossils.

The Paleozoic era is known for its abundant marine life as well as amphibians and reptiles. This era is also known for extensive coal beds consisting largely of extinct plants such as giant horsetails, ferns, seedless plants, and club mosses.

The Mesozoic era is known for its dinosaurs and many other reptiles. At the close of this era, extensive chalk deposits formed from the skeletons of marine unicellular protozoa and algae, and settled out of relatively shallow water. It is not surprising, then, that this era is associated with massive extinctions. In a catastrophic flood model, this era would be associated with the close of the flood period prior to the reemergence of the continents from the waters which covered the earth.

In the Cenozoic era, we find largely the fossils of mammals and birds. Cenozoic plants are essentially similar to the species that exist today.

The type of fossil found in the various layers changes as one goes up the geological column, from invertebrates, fish, amphibians and reptiles, to the mammals and birds in the uppermost strata. This order in the fossil record is one of the prime evidences used by scientists to establish evolution as a fact. However, the sequence is not from simple organisms to complex organisms as one may think, but rather from marine sessile to pelagic (free-swimming) to terrestrial.

There is no simple generalized animal in the fossil record that proves that organisms develop from simple to complex. George Gaylord Simpson, the famous proponent of the evolution theory, already witnessed to this fact when he stated in his book The Meaning of Evolution, "It has been suggested that all animals are now specialized and that the generalized forms on which major evolutionary developments depend are absent. In fact, all animals have always been more or less specialized and a really generalized living form is merely a myth or an abstraction."

The earliest organisms in the fossil record were complex organisms. There is no evidence for the progressive advance required by the theory of evolution. Yes, there were many organisms such as trilobites and ammonites that existed in the past that do not exist today, but this does not make them primitive. They were just as complex as anything living today. The fossil record shows a staggering wealth of organisms. Surprisingly, most of the organisms of the past were much larger and more impressive than present day animals. In fact, the fossil record is evidence for devolution rather than evolution.

There are many reasons beyond progressive development that could be given for the order in the sequence of fossils. The sequence from sessile to free-swimming to terrestrial indicates ecological zones being destroyed progressively. Imagine a bulldozer rapidly covering a duck pond with soil. The  organisms in the pond would be buried in sequence. The bottom dwelling worms and snails would be at the bottom. The fish somewhat higher and the ducks on top. The sequence represents the ecological zones in which the animals lived and definitely not the order in which they evolved. The same holds true for the fossil record. And in fact, we do find assemblages of fossils in the same sequence in the fossil record as they occur in a present-day ecological zonation. The ability to float or not would also produce zonation. Mammals and birds float due to bloating or trapped air in feathers and hair and are thus to be found in higher strata. Coal layers reflect this same phenomenon.

No model provides all the answers, but the flood model can provide a very satisfactory explanation for the series found in the fossil record.

Updated January 2009.