Snake Legs and the Creationist Response

It's a commonly known fact (at last I hope it's commonly known) that certain members of the boa/python family still have remnants of their hind legs. To the person whose entire well-being isn't pinned on the notion that the Earth was created a few thousand years ago by a supreme deity who specifically created them, then gave the angels a high-five for his wonderful accomplishment, 5 minutes of reading will make it clear that snakes evolved from a legged reptile. Indeed, creationists have a 'rebuttal' for this.

Now, if you're a creationist, you're conditioned to believe that these things are "just arguments" and that the entire evolution-creation thing is just a game of Argumentative "tit for tat." However, the facts are the facts, and whether or not you choose to accept them, "arguments" like these are well known facts in the world of biology and paleontology.

Let's start off with what a well-researched 'evolutionist' (I feel silly even using the word) already knows, so that the creationist can get a sense of just how silly these creationist articles really are.

-Certain snakes of the boa/python family have remnants of hind legs.

-At least one 'transitional' has been found. A 'snake' with legs (more defined than in boas and pythons, but nothing like, say, a common lizard) and hips.

-Many animals, reptiles and all, use their legs during courtship. Even humans are known for using their limbs during courtship (or so I've heard...)

-Snakes have no neck vertebrae, they are purely thoratic and abdominal. For this reason, they have no remnants of forelimbs (in other words, they clearly lost their forelimbs before completely losing their hind limbs).

-At some point in their embryonic development, snakes have all 4 legs and only in certain pythons are they not all completely reabsorbed.

Now let's look at this Dr Dino 'rebuttal' article;

http://www.drdino.com/articles.php?spec=100

Note the number of silly arguments. ...

via Snakes with Legs and the Creationist Response - Evolution Jihad's MySpace Blog.

the complex systems we see around us are a result of billions of years, which if you think about it, is impossible to really comprehend given the fact that our lifetimes only amount to several decades. Watches on the other hand, are created in an obviously overwhelmingly shorter amount of time than this. To the evolutionist, the watchmaker argument is silly at best, but to the creationist, it makes perfect sense. So for creationists, I highly recommend The Blind Watchmaker by Richard Dawkins in hope of their eventual enligtenment.