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Evolution of mammalian middle ear ossicles

Complex structures with significant biological function can arise multiple times in evolution by common gene patterning and developmental pathways. The mammalian middle ear, with its significant hearing function, is such a complex structure and a key evolutionary innovation. The detachment of the ear from the jaw, an important transformation of the middle ear in early mammals, is now shown by newly discovered fossils to have major homoplasies; the morphogenesis of these homoplasies is also illuminated by new genetic studies of ear development in extant mammals. By extrapolating the developmental morphogenesis of genetic studies into the early mammal fossil record, evolution of the middle ear in early mammals provides an integrated case study of how development has impacted, mechanistically, the transformation of a major structural complex in evolution.

— Zhe-Xi Luo,

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Baramin

Baraminology is founded upon this literal interpretation of the Bible: that each kind was independently brought into direct physical existence by God and that therefore these kinds share no ancestry. In the 17th century there arose the idea that Genesis described the creation of unchangeable living species, to be challenged in the 18th century by the idea of Transmutation of species. Many creationists found difficulty fitting the taxonomic term species to their Biblical interpretation, which led to its replacement with an expression intended to refer to a larger category: kind, created kind, or the coined word baramin.