Fossils open a window deep into the history of the earth. Through that window we learn about how whales evolved from four-legged creatures to the aquatic animals we know today, we learn about our own species and where we came from, and we learn more about God who made it all. Language of God producer, Colin Hoogerwerf, journeys into the world of fossils alongside paleontologist Ryan Bebej to explore some of these stories. Guest geologist and paleontologist Ralph Stearley introduces us to some of the early Christians who helped figure out what fossils really are and biological anthropologist Cara Wall-Scheffler joins to talk about what fossils can teach us about what it means to be human.
Related Links
Photos
Calvin Fossil Collection Photos
Fossil Fish
Drawer of fossils
Fossil Shark’s Tooth
Featured Guests
Ryan Bebej
Ryan Bebej is a professor in the Department of Biology at Calvin University, where he was selected as professor of the year in 2017. He earned his Ph.D. in ecology and evolutionary biology with a focus in paleontology from the University of Michigan. His research focuses on the evolution of aquatic mammals from terrestrial ancestors, including cetaceans (whales, dolphins, and porpoises) and pinnipeds (seals, sea lions, and walruses). He is especially interested in the earliest stages of these large-scale evolutionary transitions and the anatomical modifications that facilitate changes in swimming mode. He has excavated skeletons of fossil whales at Wadi Al-Hitan, a UNESCO World Heritage Site in Egypt’s western desert, and he routinely spends time working in collections at world-renowned museums. Ryan is also deeply interested in the relationship between science and Christian faith. In addition to being a member of BioLogos Voices since 2016, he has been a Scholarship and Christianity in Oxford (SCIO) visiting scholar in science and religion and a participant in SCIO's Bridging the Two Cultures of Science and the Humanities II program. When he isn’t working, he loves spending time with his wife and two sons, playing German tabletop games, and rooting for the Michigan Wolverines and St. Louis Cardinals.
Cara Wall-Scheffler
Cara Wall-Scheffler’s is a biological anthropologist and works in the Biology Department at Seattle Pacific University. Her research focuses on the evolution of human sexual dimorphism, particularly in the context of balancing the pressures of thermoregulation and long-distance locomotion. She has been working on this problem for over 10 years and has published numerous papers along with her students including in the Journal of Human Evolution, American Journal of Physical Anthropology, Journal of Archaeological Science, and the International Journal of Osteoarchaeology.
Ralph Stearley
Ralph Stearley is a paleontologist with broad interests in the history of life and in biogeography. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Michigan in geological sciences, with an emphasis on vertebrate paleontology. He is professor of geology at Calvin College, where he has taught since 1992. His published research has included work on marine invertebrate ecology and paleoecology in the northern Gulf of California; fluvial taphonomy; the systematics and evolution of salmonid fishes; Pleistocene mammalian biogeography; and zooarchaeology of fish remains from sites in Michigan and New Mexico. He was privileged to be able to co-author, with former Calvin College colleague Davis Young, The Bible, Rocks and Time, published by InterVarsity Press in 2008.