Günter Bechly

Günter Bechly is a German paleo-entomologist who specializes in the fossil history and systematics of insects (esp. dragonflies), the most diverse group of animals. He served as curator for amber and fossil insects in the department of paleontology at the State Museum of Natural History (SMNS) in Stuttgart, Germany. He is also a Senior Fellow with Discovery Institute’s Center for Science and Culture. Dr. Bechly earned his Ph.D. in geosciences from Eberhard-Karls-University in Tübingen, Germany.

Archives

The Demise of the Artifact Hypothesis

_{Günter Bechly
October 5, 2020}

paleoentomologist Günter Bechly makes the case that recent findings have put the nails in the coffin of this “artifact hypothesis.” He goes on to argue that these findings are “not just a tiny problem but a fatal problem” for modern Darwinism.

Kimberella Is No Solution to the Cambrian Conundrum

_{Günter Bechly
September 21, 2020}

The fossil record speaks clearly and cries out loud: the history of life on Earth is a history of saltations.

Kimberella and Controversial Relationships — A Chronological Synopsis, Continued

_{Günter Bechly
September 19, 2020}

One researchers has preferred to classify Kimberella among the Ediacaran "fossil problematica.”

Kimberella and Controversial Relationships — A Chronological Synopsis

_{Günter Bechly
September 18, 2020}

It is remarkable, indeed, how detailed a medusoid morphology was projected onto Kimberella fossils and later recognized as pure fantasy.

Kimberella — The Oldest Radula (Not)

_{Günter Bechly
September 17, 2020}

There is a strange fact that shows that any interpretation of these trace fossils has to be taken with a grain of salt.

Kimberella — Locomotory Tracks

_{Günter Bechly
September 16, 2020}

But what about tracks of the moving animal? There are indeed some fossils from the White Sea.

Kimberella — Traces and a Trace-maker

_{Günter Bechly
September 15, 2020}

The body fossils are generally positioned at the focal points of the fan-shaped scratch marks.

Kimberella — Controversial Scratch Marks

_{Günter Bechly
September 14, 2020}

A former teacher of mine was the late Adolf Seilacher, who was a leading authority on trace fossils and who for obvious reasons preferred to be called "Dolf."

Reconstructing Kimberella — The Disputed Anatomy in Detail

_{Günter Bechly
September 12, 2020}

Fossils often leave much room for very different interpretations of relatively poor evidence.

Kimberella — Four Phases of Interpretation

_{Günter Bechly
September 11, 2020}

In the quite checkered history of the detailed reconstruction of Kimberella, we can distinguish four distinct successive phases.

Kimberella — Interpreting the Fossils

_{Günter Bechly
September 10, 2020}

One of the few features that are uncontroversial is the body size: The fossils measure usually 1-5 cm in length.

Günter Bechly: Still More Evidence Against Darwinian Gradualism

_{Günter Bechly
April 8, 2020}

On this episode of ID the Future, paleontologist Günter Bechly speaks again with host Andrew McDiarmid about the growing case against Darwinian gradualism. Bechly points out two more cases where fossil discoveries refuted Darwin’s prediction of gradualism in species transitions. In one of the classic showcases for such alleged transitions, between two species of deep-sea protists called foraminifera, more recent research showed their speciation to be abrupt and not an ancestor-descendent sequence. And fossil freshwater snails from Germany, once viewed as another textbook example of gradual speciation, were discovered not to be separate species at all. Is there a paradigm change coming in evolutionary studies? Nothing fits the data better than intelligent design.

Günter Bechly Says Goodbye to Darwinian Gradualism

_{Günter Bechly
April 6, 2020}

On this episode of ID the Future, paleontologist Günter Bechly and host Andrew McDiarmid discuss Bechly’s article “Ape-Man Waves Goodbye to Darwinian Gradualism.” Bechly touches on the oldest australopithecine fossil skull ever found, from 3.8 million years ago. The researchers behind the find are confident of its age but puzzled because the discovery undercuts one of the best examples of alleged gradual transition between two hominid species, and it also doesn’t fit well with common theories of phylogenetic relationship. The evidence poses a significant problem for the Darwinian mechanistic paradigm, but can be readily explained with an intelligent design approach.

Günter Bechly on the Latest Fossil Find Confusing the Human “Evolutionary Tree”

_{Günter Bechly
May 1, 2019}

On this episode of ID the Future, Andrew McDiarmid interviews paleontologist Günter Bechly about the latest hominin fossil that’s once again “rewriting human evolutionary history.” News of the find reached the media early this month. Dubbed homo luzonensis due to discovery on the Philippine island of Luzon, it poses yet another challenge to neo-Darwinian theory.

Günter Bechly: Human Evolution’s Once ‘Indisputable Facts’ Now “Dead Theory”

_{Günter Bechly
March 20, 2019}

On this episode of ID the Future, Andrew McDiarmid interviews paleoentomologist Günter Bechly about human evolution, and how the story keeps getting rewritten. The “out of Africa” story was once “indisputable,” but recent evidence has overturned it; it’s now “dead.” The human phylogenetic tree is riddled with question marks. An original human pair is no longer out of the question. So much weakly founded evidence has been oversold in the past, says Bechly, it’s still wise to apply a healthy dose of skepticism toward today’s “indisputable facts” of human evolution. Please consider donating to support the IDTF Podcast.

Günter Bechly: Rich Fossil Record Says No to Insect Evolution

_{Günter Bechly
March 11, 2019}

On this episode of ID the Future, Dr. Günter Bechly, paleoentomologist and former curator for amber and fossil insects for the State Museum of Natural History in Stuttgart, Germany, talks with host Andrew McDiarmid about evidence for macroevolution among insects. The fossil record is “saturated,” Bechly says. By that he doesn’t mean there aren’t new fossil forms to discover. Bechly himself has discovered several. He means we have an extensive enough sampling to confidently discern the major patterns of change and stasis in the history of life. And it shows no sign of insect evolution. It shows no transition from marine arthropods to terrestrial insects, none from wingless insects to winged insects, and no gradual evolution to insects (such as Read More ›

Living Fossils Really Do Live — and Pose Problems for Evolution

_{Günter Bechly
May 14, 2018}

On this episode of ID the Future, German paleo-entomologist Dr. Günter Bechly explains the real, living problem of living fossils — a term resisted by evolutionists though coined by Darwin himself and undeniably a living reality. These plants and animals have remained unchanged over eons: in the case of the horseshoe crab, nearly half a billion years through enormous upheaval.

Scientist Names Dragonfly Species after Michael Behe. Gets Roasted. Shrugs.

_{Günter Bechly
May 7, 2018}

On this episode of ID the Future, paleoentomologist Günter Bechly discusses the new dragonfly fossil that he discovered, described, and named after intelligent design theorist Michael Behe — Chrismooreia michaelbehei. Bechly describes what’s remarkable about this stunning fossil, explains some problems dragonflies poses for Darwinism, and shares some of the strangely uninformed criticisms he’s received for naming the species after Behe.

A Paleontologist on Why the “Cambrian Explosion” Label Persists

_{Günter Bechly
April 23, 2018}

On this episode of ID the Future, Sarah Chaffee interviews German paleo-entomologist Günter Bechly on the Cambrian explosion, the relatively sudden appearance of new body plans in the fossil record an estimated 550 million years ago. Dr. Bechly explains how the Cambrian explosion has been challenged by non-experts with an anti-ID bias, yet remains very much a real event in the opinion of specialists in the field — and with the continuing failure of Darwinian explanations, a strong source of evidential support for intelligent design.

Günter Bechly on Fossils and Common Descent, Pt 2

_{Günter Bechly
February 26, 2018}

German paleontologist Günter Bechly was co-author (with Stephen C. Meyer) of the chapter titled The Fossil Record and Universal Common Ancestry, in the major new book Theistic Evolution: A Scientific, Philosophical, and Theological Critique. In this second conversation with Sarah Chaffee on this topic, Bechly speaks of “life’s second ‘big bang,'” one of many discontinuities in the fossil record. “There’s no reasonable way,” he concludes, “to get from bacteria to mammals via evolutionary processes.”