Sugar gliders look like chipmunks, glide like flying squirrels, and their young (called joeys like kangaroos), can live for several weeks after birth in their mother’s pouch like opossums, and amazingly they belong in the same family as kangaroos. No wonder their origin has stymied evolutionists. The three types of gliders are so different that evolutionists propose that they “evolved at least three times independently in closely related glider species, including sugar gliders. But the question lingers as to how it evolved.” [i]
My grandson had several so this summary was written from first-hand experience. They are small animals that can be held in a child’s hand. They glide by leaping from high places and sailing down to the ground. Flying squirrels and sugar gliders (also called opossum gliders) have many striking similarities: both have big eyes, a white belly, and a thin-skin membrane stretched between their arms and legs designed to allow them to glide.
Although very similar animals, sugar gliders and flying squirrels belong to different taxonomic groups.[ii] Sugar gliders belong to Order Diprotodontia, Genus Petaurus, while flying squirrels are members of Order Rodentia and Genus Sciurus. Sugar gliders are marsupials and flying squirrels are rodents. Sugar gliders are named due to their predilection for sugary foods (especially eucalyptus sap and flower nectar) and their ability to glide through the air.
Gliding Requires A Complex, Well-Designed System
The sugar glider’s ability to glide is achieved by a membrane that runs from the hand’s fifth finger to the foot’s first toe. The finger and toe design are especially critical to be able to glide. Each foot has five digits including an opposable toe on each hind foot. The opposable toes lack claws and bend to enable them to touch all the other digits which allows them to firmly grasp tree branches. The second and third hind-foot digits are partially fused together, forming a handy grooming comb. The fourth sharp and elongated forefoot digit is designed to effectively extract insects hiding under tree bark.[iii] The precise design of this complex structure also varies between the three different sugar glider families.[iv]
Their Ingenious Biomechanical Designed Gliding Mechanism
In order to explain the many design differences of the different sugar glider breeds, evolutionists are forced to postulate that
“Gliding has evolved independently at least six times in mammals. Multiple hypotheses have been proposed to explain the evolution of gliding. These include the evasion of predators, economical locomotion or foraging, control of landing forces, and habitat structure…. It is unlikely that any one of these hypotheses exclusively explains the evolution of gliding.”[v]
Ironically no evidence exists that they evolved once, let alone six times. To glide, the animal launches itself from a tree while spreading its limbs to properly stretch out the gliding membrane. The direction and flight path for as far as 100 meters is controlled by making subtle changes in the membrane’s curvature shape. The system requires a high level of coordinating its fingers, toes, membrane, nerves, veins, and tendons to function as a unit, all controlled by the animal’s tiny well-designed brain.
The evidence for design is eloquently illustrated in its eyes and ears. As a nocturnal animal, it requires large eyes to achieve good vision at night. Its large eyes also make sugar gliders alluring as pets. The eyes are set far apart, allowing precise triangulation when launching from a tall tree to reach their desired landing location.
Marsupial Evolution Stymies Evolutionists
One of the many evolutionary headaches for Darwinists is the alleged development of marsupials from placentals. The major difference between them is the means of reproduction. Placental mammals are nourished by a placenta to enable them to spend a long time developing inside the mother’s body before being born. In contrast, sugar gliders live close to 74 days within the marsupial pouch, the marsupium. Larger animals, such as kangaroos, remain there for eight long months!
Changes Required to Evolve a Placental Mammal into a Marsupial Mammal
Since sugar gliders are marsupial mammals and flying squirrels are non-marsupial mammals, major differences exist. Flying squirrels do not have a pouch, but their young develop in a placenta, as occurs in humans. When ready to be born, they are expelled by the birth process and are breastfed by the mother. Evolutionists explain these differences as due to flying squirrels having evolved from a non-marsupial mammal and sugar gliders from a marsupial. Although major birthing differences exist, comparing sugar gliders and flying squirrels side by side reveals a very similar design!
Theory of Sugar Glider Evolution
The most common theory is that both sugar gliders and flying squirrels originally evolved from some “rat-like” common ancestor, a mammalian rodent. The evolutionary ancestor of the sugar glider is speculated to have been Sinodelphys szalayi, which lived in the ‘Cretaceous Period’ with the dinosaurs. Evolutionary time assumptions date this event as about 125 million years ago. This claim raises a big problem for evolution, namely “specifically how could S. szalayi evolve from a placental mammal into a marsupial?” as the theory postulates. Only one fossil specimen of S. szalayi is known, consisting of a slab and its counter slab. This eutherian (placental mammal), although judged as astonishingly complete, did not provide any evidence for their evolution.[vi]
All known eutherians lack epipubic bones, which allows for the expansion of the abdomen pouch to hold their offspring. Epipubic bones are present in both marsupial and monotreme mammals besides sugar gliders. Two branches of modern mammals, placental and marsupial, supposedly evolved gliding, which according to evolutionists was at least 100 million years after modern mammals evolved, eventually leading to today’s marsupial sugar gliders and flying squirrels.
The theoretical marsupial family tree produced over 60 years ago has not changed much since then: no evidence exists for the evolution of any marsupial from the last common ancestor, including the sugar glider.[vii] The leading expert on marsupials, David Bergamiuni, admits “No one knows when the first marsupials came to Australia, how they got there, or even where they came from… [this] sums up the best present opinions about their evolution and radiation.”[viii] While it is claimed that they evolved from very different ancestors, placental and marsupial, over 100 million years ago, evolutionists maintain that their remarkable similarity is conveniently due to ‘convergent evolution.’
What cannot be explained is why the sugar gliders and flying squirrels are in many ways very similar. Both use similar membranes (called a patagium) for flying and both have average flight-gliding distances of from 50 to 65 feet. Except for color differences, they look remarkably similar, requiring some detailed knowledge about the animals to discern the differences. Both are very similar in size and weight, and the diet of both includes insects.
The main problem for evolution is, after flying squirrels and sugar gliders evolved from some unknown common ancestor, each line separately evolved into the very different genera, placentals versus marsupials. Then, the very different flying squirrels and sugar glider genera, theoretically evolved for another 100 million years by convergent evolution to become very similar as existing today.[ix]
Convergent evolution is used to explain, actually explain away, the embarrassing lack of evidence for marsupial evolution. Darwinists offer convergent evolution as the evolutionary rescue device, even though fossil evidence for this theory is totally lacking. Nevertheless:
“Convergent evolution is a recurring theme in marsupial history, and the diprotodonts are no exception. The diverse diprotodont body forms and lifestyles show striking similarity with mammals of several other orders… The sugar glider (Petaurus breviceps) and the Leadbeater’s possum resemble species of flying and non-flying squirrel respectively.”[x]
The convergent evolution explanation, for which no empirical supporting evidence exists, relies on the belief that similar environments gradually caused the two animals from two very different evolutionary tree branches (the marsupial and placental) to evolve into very similar animals.[xi]
Summary The wonder and beauty of sugar gliders is obvious, and accounts for their enormous popularity. However, the evolutionary specifics of sugar gliders have stymied evolutionists ever since they were discovered. Evolutionists are no closer to proving their evolution than when they were first discovered.
[i] Callier, V. 2024. How sugar gliders got their wings. Scientific American; https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-sugar-gliders-got-their-wings/.
[ii] Croft, August. 2023. Flying squirrel vs. sugar glider: What are the differences? AZ Animals. From https://a-z-animals.com/blog/flying-squirrel-vs-sugar-glider/; updated on September 1.
[iii] Smith, Meredith J. 1973. Petaurus breviceps. Mammalian Species (30):1–5, June 13.
[iv] Hutchins, Michael (editor). 2003. Grzimek’s Animal Life Encyclopedia. Detroit, MI: Thompson Gale, p. 33.
[v] Byrnes, Greg, et al. 2011. Ecological and biomechanical insights into the evolution of gliding in mammals. Integrative and Comparative Biology 51(6):991–1001, December, p. 991; https://doi.org/10.1093/icb/icr069.
[vi] Luo, Zhe-Xi, et al. 2003.An early Cretaceous tribosphenic mammal and metatherian evolution. Science 302(5652):1934–1940, doi:10.1126/science, December 12.
[vii] Bergamini, David. 1972. The Land and Wildlife of Australia. New York, NY: Time-Life Books, pp. 88-89.
[viii] Bergamini, 1972, pp. 88-89.
[ix] Daley, J. 2017. Exceptional fossils show ancient, winged mammals may have glided above the dinosaurs. Smithsonian. From https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/mammal-ancestors-were-gliding-above-dinosaurs-180964465/, August 10.
[x] Hutchins, 2003, p. 33.
[xi] Daley, 2017.
____________________________________________________
Jerry Bergman
May 2025
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Sugar gliders look like chipmunks, glide like flying squirrels, and their young (called joeys like kangaroos), can live for several weeks after birth in their mother’s pouch like opossums, and amazingly they belong in the same family as kangaroos. No wonder their origin has stymied evolutionists. The three types of gliders are so different that evolutionists propose that they “evolved at least three times independently in closely related glider species, including sugar gliders. But the question lingers as to how it evolved.” [i]
My grandson had several so this summary was written from first-hand experience. They are small animals that can be held in a child’s hand. They glide by leaping from high places and sailing down to the ground. Flying squirrels and sugar gliders (also called opossum gliders) have many striking similarities: both have big eyes, a white belly, and a thin-skin membrane stretched between their arms and legs designed to allow them to glide.
Although very similar animals, sugar gliders and flying squirrels belong to different taxonomic groups.[ii] Sugar gliders belong to Order Diprotodontia, Genus Petaurus, while flying squirrels are members of Order Rodentia and Genus Sciurus. Sugar gliders are marsupials and flying squirrels are rodents. Sugar gliders are named due to their predilection for sugary foods (especially eucalyptus sap and flower nectar) and their ability to glide through the air.
Gliding Requires A Complex, Well-Designed System
The sugar glider’s ability to glide is achieved by a membrane that runs from the hand’s fifth finger to the foot’s first toe. The finger and toe design are especially critical to be able to glide. Each foot has five digits including an opposable toe on each hind foot. The opposable toes lack claws and bend to enable them to touch all the other digits which allows them to firmly grasp tree branches. The second and third hind-foot digits are partially fused together, forming a handy grooming comb. The fourth sharp and elongated forefoot digit is designed to effectively extract insects hiding under tree bark.[iii] The precise design of this complex structure also varies between the three different sugar glider families.[iv]
Their Ingenious Biomechanical Designed Gliding Mechanism
In order to explain the many design differences of the different sugar glider breeds, evolutionists are forced to postulate that
“Gliding has evolved independently at least six times in mammals. Multiple hypotheses have been proposed to explain the evolution of gliding. These include the evasion of predators, economical locomotion or foraging, control of landing forces, and habitat structure…. It is unlikely that any one of these hypotheses exclusively explains the evolution of gliding.”[v]
Ironically no evidence exists that they evolved once, let alone six times. To glide, the animal launches itself from a tree while spreading its limbs to properly stretch out the gliding membrane. The direction and flight path for as far as 100 meters is controlled by making subtle changes in the membrane’s curvature shape. The system requires a high level of coordinating its fingers, toes, membrane, nerves, veins, and tendons to function as a unit, all controlled by the animal’s tiny well-designed brain.
The evidence for design is eloquently illustrated in its eyes and ears. As a nocturnal animal, it requires large eyes to achieve good vision at night. Its large eyes also make sugar gliders alluring as pets. The eyes are set far apart, allowing precise triangulation when launching from a tall tree to reach their desired landing location.
Marsupial Evolution Stymies Evolutionists
One of the many evolutionary headaches for Darwinists is the alleged development of marsupials from placentals. The major difference between them is the means of reproduction. Placental mammals are nourished by a placenta to enable them to spend a long time developing inside the mother’s body before being born. In contrast, sugar gliders live close to 74 days within the marsupial pouch, the marsupium. Larger animals, such as kangaroos, remain there for eight long months!
Changes Required to Evolve a Placental Mammal into a Marsupial Mammal
Since sugar gliders are marsupial mammals and flying squirrels are non-marsupial mammals, major differences exist. Flying squirrels do not have a pouch, but their young develop in a placenta, as occurs in humans. When ready to be born, they are expelled by the birth process and are breastfed by the mother. Evolutionists explain these differences as due to flying squirrels having evolved from a non-marsupial mammal and sugar gliders from a marsupial. Although major birthing differences exist, comparing sugar gliders and flying squirrels side by side reveals a very similar design!
Theory of Sugar Glider Evolution
The most common theory is that both sugar gliders and flying squirrels originally evolved from some “rat-like” common ancestor, a mammalian rodent. The evolutionary ancestor of the sugar glider is speculated to have been Sinodelphys szalayi, which lived in the ‘Cretaceous Period’ with the dinosaurs. Evolutionary time assumptions date this event as about 125 million years ago. This claim raises a big problem for evolution, namely “specifically how could S. szalayi evolve from a placental mammal into a marsupial?” as the theory postulates. Only one fossil specimen of S. szalayi is known, consisting of a slab and its counter slab. This eutherian (placental mammal), although judged as astonishingly complete, did not provide any evidence for their evolution.[vi]
All known eutherians lack epipubic bones, which allows for the expansion of the abdomen pouch to hold their offspring. Epipubic bones are present in both marsupial and monotreme mammals besides sugar gliders. Two branches of modern mammals, placental and marsupial, supposedly evolved gliding, which according to evolutionists was at least 100 million years after modern mammals evolved, eventually leading to today’s marsupial sugar gliders and flying squirrels.
The theoretical marsupial family tree produced over 60 years ago has not changed much since then: no evidence exists for the evolution of any marsupial from the last common ancestor, including the sugar glider.[vii] The leading expert on marsupials, David Bergamiuni, admits “No one knows when the first marsupials came to Australia, how they got there, or even where they came from… [this] sums up the best present opinions about their evolution and radiation.”[viii] While it is claimed that they evolved from very different ancestors, placental and marsupial, over 100 million years ago, evolutionists maintain that their remarkable similarity is conveniently due to ‘convergent evolution.’
What cannot be explained is why the sugar gliders and flying squirrels are in many ways very similar. Both use similar membranes (called a patagium) for flying and both have average flight-gliding distances of from 50 to 65 feet. Except for color differences, they look remarkably similar, requiring some detailed knowledge about the animals to discern the differences. Both are very similar in size and weight, and the diet of both includes insects.
The main problem for evolution is, after flying squirrels and sugar gliders evolved from some unknown common ancestor, each line separately evolved into the very different genera, placentals versus marsupials. Then, the very different flying squirrels and sugar glider genera, theoretically evolved for another 100 million years by convergent evolution to become very similar as existing today.[ix]
Convergent evolution is used to explain, actually explain away, the embarrassing lack of evidence for marsupial evolution. Darwinists offer convergent evolution as the evolutionary rescue device, even though fossil evidence for this theory is totally lacking. Nevertheless:
“Convergent evolution is a recurring theme in marsupial history, and the diprotodonts are no exception. The diverse diprotodont body forms and lifestyles show striking similarity with mammals of several other orders… The sugar glider (Petaurus breviceps) and the Leadbeater’s possum resemble species of flying and non-flying squirrel respectively.”[x]
The convergent evolution explanation, for which no empirical supporting evidence exists, relies on the belief that similar environments gradually caused the two animals from two very different evolutionary tree branches (the marsupial and placental) to evolve into very similar animals.[xi]
Summary The wonder and beauty of sugar gliders is obvious, and accounts for their enormous popularity. However, the evolutionary specifics of sugar gliders have stymied evolutionists ever since they were discovered. Evolutionists are no closer to proving their evolution than when they were first discovered.
[i] Callier, V. 2024. How sugar gliders got their wings. Scientific American; https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-sugar-gliders-got-their-wings/.
[ii] Croft, August. 2023. Flying squirrel vs. sugar glider: What are the differences? AZ Animals. From https://a-z-animals.com/blog/flying-squirrel-vs-sugar-glider/; updated on September 1.
[iii] Smith, Meredith J. 1973. Petaurus breviceps. Mammalian Species (30):1–5, June 13.
[iv] Hutchins, Michael (editor). 2003. Grzimek’s Animal Life Encyclopedia. Detroit, MI: Thompson Gale, p. 33.
[v] Byrnes, Greg, et al. 2011. Ecological and biomechanical insights into the evolution of gliding in mammals. Integrative and Comparative Biology 51(6):991–1001, December, p. 991; https://doi.org/10.1093/icb/icr069.
[vi] Luo, Zhe-Xi, et al. 2003.An early Cretaceous tribosphenic mammal and metatherian evolution. Science 302(5652):1934–1940, doi:10.1126/science, December 12.
[vii] Bergamini, David. 1972. The Land and Wildlife of Australia. New York, NY: Time-Life Books, pp. 88-89.
[viii] Bergamini, 1972, pp. 88-89.
[ix] Daley, J. 2017. Exceptional fossils show ancient, winged mammals may have glided above the dinosaurs. Smithsonian. From https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/mammal-ancestors-were-gliding-above-dinosaurs-180964465/, August 10.
[x] Hutchins, 2003, p. 33.
[xi] Daley, 2017.
____________________________________________________
headstart.create.ab.ca/term/convergence
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Sugar gliders look like chipmunks, glide like flying squirrels, and their young (called joeys like kangaroos), can live for several weeks after birth in their mother’s pouch like opossums, and amazingly they belong in the same family as kangaroos. No wonder their origin has stymied evolutionists. The three types of gliders are so different that evolutionists propose that they “evolved at least three times independently in closely related glider species, including sugar gliders. But the question lingers as to how it evolved.” [i]
My grandson had several so this summary was written from first-hand experience. They are small animals that can be held in a child’s hand. They glide by leaping from high places and sailing down to the ground. Flying squirrels and sugar gliders (also called opossum gliders) have many striking similarities: both have big eyes, a white belly, and a thin-skin membrane stretched between their arms and legs designed to allow them to glide.
Although very similar animals, sugar gliders and flying squirrels belong to different taxonomic groups.[ii] Sugar gliders belong to Order Diprotodontia, Genus Petaurus, while flying squirrels are members of Order Rodentia and Genus Sciurus. Sugar gliders are marsupials and flying squirrels are rodents. Sugar gliders are named due to their predilection for sugary foods (especially eucalyptus sap and flower nectar) and their ability to glide through the air.
Gliding Requires A Complex, Well-Designed System
The sugar glider’s ability to glide is achieved by a membrane that runs from the hand’s fifth finger to the foot’s first toe. The finger and toe design are especially critical to be able to glide. Each foot has five digits including an opposable toe on each hind foot. The opposable toes lack claws and bend to enable them to touch all the other digits which allows them to firmly grasp tree branches. The second and third hind-foot digits are partially fused together, forming a handy grooming comb. The fourth sharp and elongated forefoot digit is designed to effectively extract insects hiding under tree bark.[iii] The precise design of this complex structure also varies between the three different sugar glider families.[iv]
Their Ingenious Biomechanical Designed Gliding Mechanism
In order to explain the many design differences of the different sugar glider breeds, evolutionists are forced to postulate that
“Gliding has evolved independently at least six times in mammals. Multiple hypotheses have been proposed to explain the evolution of gliding. These include the evasion of predators, economical locomotion or foraging, control of landing forces, and habitat structure…. It is unlikely that any one of these hypotheses exclusively explains the evolution of gliding.”[v]
Ironically no evidence exists that they evolved once, let alone six times. To glide, the animal launches itself from a tree while spreading its limbs to properly stretch out the gliding membrane. The direction and flight path for as far as 100 meters is controlled by making subtle changes in the membrane’s curvature shape. The system requires a high level of coordinating its fingers, toes, membrane, nerves, veins, and tendons to function as a unit, all controlled by the animal’s tiny well-designed brain.
The evidence for design is eloquently illustrated in its eyes and ears. As a nocturnal animal, it requires large eyes to achieve good vision at night. Its large eyes also make sugar gliders alluring as pets. The eyes are set far apart, allowing precise triangulation when launching from a tall tree to reach their desired landing location.
Marsupial Evolution Stymies Evolutionists
One of the many evolutionary headaches for Darwinists is the alleged development of marsupials from placentals. The major difference between them is the means of reproduction. Placental mammals are nourished by a placenta to enable them to spend a long time developing inside the mother’s body before being born. In contrast, sugar gliders live close to 74 days within the marsupial pouch, the marsupium. Larger animals, such as kangaroos, remain there for eight long months!
Changes Required to Evolve a Placental Mammal into a Marsupial Mammal
Since sugar gliders are marsupial mammals and flying squirrels are non-marsupial mammals, major differences exist. Flying squirrels do not have a pouch, but their young develop in a placenta, as occurs in humans. When ready to be born, they are expelled by the birth process and are breastfed by the mother. Evolutionists explain these differences as due to flying squirrels having evolved from a non-marsupial mammal and sugar gliders from a marsupial. Although major birthing differences exist, comparing sugar gliders and flying squirrels side by side reveals a very similar design!
Theory of Sugar Glider Evolution
The most common theory is that both sugar gliders and flying squirrels originally evolved from some “rat-like” common ancestor, a mammalian rodent. The evolutionary ancestor of the sugar glider is speculated to have been Sinodelphys szalayi, which lived in the ‘Cretaceous Period’ with the dinosaurs. Evolutionary time assumptions date this event as about 125 million years ago. This claim raises a big problem for evolution, namely “specifically how could S. szalayi evolve from a placental mammal into a marsupial?” as the theory postulates. Only one fossil specimen of S. szalayi is known, consisting of a slab and its counter slab. This eutherian (placental mammal), although judged as astonishingly complete, did not provide any evidence for their evolution.[vi]
All known eutherians lack epipubic bones, which allows for the expansion of the abdomen pouch to hold their offspring. Epipubic bones are present in both marsupial and monotreme mammals besides sugar gliders. Two branches of modern mammals, placental and marsupial, supposedly evolved gliding, which according to evolutionists was at least 100 million years after modern mammals evolved, eventually leading to today’s marsupial sugar gliders and flying squirrels.
The theoretical marsupial family tree produced over 60 years ago has not changed much since then: no evidence exists for the evolution of any marsupial from the last common ancestor, including the sugar glider.[vii] The leading expert on marsupials, David Bergamiuni, admits “No one knows when the first marsupials came to Australia, how they got there, or even where they came from… [this] sums up the best present opinions about their evolution and radiation.”[viii] While it is claimed that they evolved from very different ancestors, placental and marsupial, over 100 million years ago, evolutionists maintain that their remarkable similarity is conveniently due to ‘convergent evolution.’
What cannot be explained is why the sugar gliders and flying squirrels are in many ways very similar. Both use similar membranes (called a patagium) for flying and both have average flight-gliding distances of from 50 to 65 feet. Except for color differences, they look remarkably similar, requiring some detailed knowledge about the animals to discern the differences. Both are very similar in size and weight, and the diet of both includes insects.
The main problem for evolution is, after flying squirrels and sugar gliders evolved from some unknown common ancestor, each line separately evolved into the very different genera, placentals versus marsupials. Then, the very different flying squirrels and sugar glider genera, theoretically evolved for another 100 million years by convergent evolution to become very similar as existing today.[ix]
Convergent evolution is used to explain, actually explain away, the embarrassing lack of evidence for marsupial evolution. Darwinists offer convergent evolution as the evolutionary rescue device, even though fossil evidence for this theory is totally lacking. Nevertheless:
“Convergent evolution is a recurring theme in marsupial history, and the diprotodonts are no exception. The diverse diprotodont body forms and lifestyles show striking similarity with mammals of several other orders… The sugar glider (Petaurus breviceps) and the Leadbeater’s possum resemble species of flying and non-flying squirrel respectively.”[x]
The convergent evolution explanation, for which no empirical supporting evidence exists, relies on the belief that similar environments gradually caused the two animals from two very different evolutionary tree branches (the marsupial and placental) to evolve into very similar animals.[xi]
Summary The wonder and beauty of sugar gliders is obvious, and accounts for their enormous popularity. However, the evolutionary specifics of sugar gliders have stymied evolutionists ever since they were discovered. Evolutionists are no closer to proving their evolution than when they were first discovered.
[i] Callier, V. 2024. How sugar gliders got their wings. Scientific American; https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-sugar-gliders-got-their-wings/.
[ii] Croft, August. 2023. Flying squirrel vs. sugar glider: What are the differences? AZ Animals. From https://a-z-animals.com/blog/flying-squirrel-vs-sugar-glider/; updated on September 1.
[iii] Smith, Meredith J. 1973. Petaurus breviceps. Mammalian Species (30):1–5, June 13.
[iv] Hutchins, Michael (editor). 2003. Grzimek’s Animal Life Encyclopedia. Detroit, MI: Thompson Gale, p. 33.
[v] Byrnes, Greg, et al. 2011. Ecological and biomechanical insights into the evolution of gliding in mammals. Integrative and Comparative Biology 51(6):991–1001, December, p. 991; https://doi.org/10.1093/icb/icr069.
[vi] Luo, Zhe-Xi, et al. 2003.An early Cretaceous tribosphenic mammal and metatherian evolution. Science 302(5652):1934–1940, doi:10.1126/science, December 12.
[vii] Bergamini, David. 1972. The Land and Wildlife of Australia. New York, NY: Time-Life Books, pp. 88-89.
[viii] Bergamini, 1972, pp. 88-89.
[ix] Daley, J. 2017. Exceptional fossils show ancient, winged mammals may have glided above the dinosaurs. Smithsonian. From https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/mammal-ancestors-were-gliding-above-dinosaurs-180964465/, August 10.
[x] Hutchins, 2003, p. 33.
[xi] Daley, 2017.
____________________________________________________
headstart.create.ab.ca/term/convergence
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Sugar gliders look like chipmunks, glide like flying squirrels, and their young (called joeys like kangaroos), can live for several weeks after birth in their mother’s pouch like opossums, and amazingly they belong in the same family as kangaroos. No wonder their origin has stymied evolutionists. The three types of gliders are so different that evolutionists propose that they “evolved at least three times independently in closely related glider species, including sugar gliders. But the question lingers as to how it evolved.” [i]
My grandson had several so this summary was written from first-hand experience. They are small animals that can be held in a child’s hand. They glide by leaping from high places and sailing down to the ground. Flying squirrels and sugar gliders (also called opossum gliders) have many striking similarities: both have big eyes, a white belly, and a thin-skin membrane stretched between their arms and legs designed to allow them to glide.
Although very similar animals, sugar gliders and flying squirrels belong to different taxonomic groups.[ii] Sugar gliders belong to Order Diprotodontia, Genus Petaurus, while flying squirrels are members of Order Rodentia and Genus Sciurus. Sugar gliders are marsupials and flying squirrels are rodents. Sugar gliders are named due to their predilection for sugary foods (especially eucalyptus sap and flower nectar) and their ability to glide through the air.
Gliding Requires A Complex, Well-Designed System
The sugar glider’s ability to glide is achieved by a membrane that runs from the hand’s fifth finger to the foot’s first toe. The finger and toe design are especially critical to be able to glide. Each foot has five digits including an opposable toe on each hind foot. The opposable toes lack claws and bend to enable them to touch all the other digits which allows them to firmly grasp tree branches. The second and third hind-foot digits are partially fused together, forming a handy grooming comb. The fourth sharp and elongated forefoot digit is designed to effectively extract insects hiding under tree bark.[iii] The precise design of this complex structure also varies between the three different sugar glider families.[iv]
Their Ingenious Biomechanical Designed Gliding Mechanism
In order to explain the many design differences of the different sugar glider breeds, evolutionists are forced to postulate that
“Gliding has evolved independently at least six times in mammals. Multiple hypotheses have been proposed to explain the evolution of gliding. These include the evasion of predators, economical locomotion or foraging, control of landing forces, and habitat structure…. It is unlikely that any one of these hypotheses exclusively explains the evolution of gliding.”[v]
Ironically no evidence exists that they evolved once, let alone six times. To glide, the animal launches itself from a tree while spreading its limbs to properly stretch out the gliding membrane. The direction and flight path for as far as 100 meters is controlled by making subtle changes in the membrane’s curvature shape. The system requires a high level of coordinating its fingers, toes, membrane, nerves, veins, and tendons to function as a unit, all controlled by the animal’s tiny well-designed brain.
The evidence for design is eloquently illustrated in its eyes and ears. As a nocturnal animal, it requires large eyes to achieve good vision at night. Its large eyes also make sugar gliders alluring as pets. The eyes are set far apart, allowing precise triangulation when launching from a tall tree to reach their desired landing location.
Marsupial Evolution Stymies Evolutionists
One of the many evolutionary headaches for Darwinists is the alleged development of marsupials from placentals. The major difference between them is the means of reproduction. Placental mammals are nourished by a placenta to enable them to spend a long time developing inside the mother’s body before being born. In contrast, sugar gliders live close to 74 days within the marsupial pouch, the marsupium. Larger animals, such as kangaroos, remain there for eight long months!
Changes Required to Evolve a Placental Mammal into a Marsupial Mammal
Since sugar gliders are marsupial mammals and flying squirrels are non-marsupial mammals, major differences exist. Flying squirrels do not have a pouch, but their young develop in a placenta, as occurs in humans. When ready to be born, they are expelled by the birth process and are breastfed by the mother. Evolutionists explain these differences as due to flying squirrels having evolved from a non-marsupial mammal and sugar gliders from a marsupial. Although major birthing differences exist, comparing sugar gliders and flying squirrels side by side reveals a very similar design!
Theory of Sugar Glider Evolution
The most common theory is that both sugar gliders and flying squirrels originally evolved from some “rat-like” common ancestor, a mammalian rodent. The evolutionary ancestor of the sugar glider is speculated to have been Sinodelphys szalayi, which lived in the ‘Cretaceous Period’ with the dinosaurs. Evolutionary time assumptions date this event as about 125 million years ago. This claim raises a big problem for evolution, namely “specifically how could S. szalayi evolve from a placental mammal into a marsupial?” as the theory postulates. Only one fossil specimen of S. szalayi is known, consisting of a slab and its counter slab. This eutherian (placental mammal), although judged as astonishingly complete, did not provide any evidence for their evolution.[vi]
All known eutherians lack epipubic bones, which allows for the expansion of the abdomen pouch to hold their offspring. Epipubic bones are present in both marsupial and monotreme mammals besides sugar gliders. Two branches of modern mammals, placental and marsupial, supposedly evolved gliding, which according to evolutionists was at least 100 million years after modern mammals evolved, eventually leading to today’s marsupial sugar gliders and flying squirrels.
The theoretical marsupial family tree produced over 60 years ago has not changed much since then: no evidence exists for the evolution of any marsupial from the last common ancestor, including the sugar glider.[vii] The leading expert on marsupials, David Bergamiuni, admits “No one knows when the first marsupials came to Australia, how they got there, or even where they came from… [this] sums up the best present opinions about their evolution and radiation.”[viii] While it is claimed that they evolved from very different ancestors, placental and marsupial, over 100 million years ago, evolutionists maintain that their remarkable similarity is conveniently due to ‘convergent evolution.’
What cannot be explained is why the sugar gliders and flying squirrels are in many ways very similar. Both use similar membranes (called a patagium) for flying and both have average flight-gliding distances of from 50 to 65 feet. Except for color differences, they look remarkably similar, requiring some detailed knowledge about the animals to discern the differences. Both are very similar in size and weight, and the diet of both includes insects.
The main problem for evolution is, after flying squirrels and sugar gliders evolved from some unknown common ancestor, each line separately evolved into the very different genera, placentals versus marsupials. Then, the very different flying squirrels and sugar glider genera, theoretically evolved for another 100 million years by convergent evolution to become very similar as existing today.[ix]
Convergent evolution is used to explain, actually explain away, the embarrassing lack of evidence for marsupial evolution. Darwinists offer convergent evolution as the evolutionary rescue device, even though fossil evidence for this theory is totally lacking. Nevertheless:
“Convergent evolution is a recurring theme in marsupial history, and the diprotodonts are no exception. The diverse diprotodont body forms and lifestyles show striking similarity with mammals of several other orders… The sugar glider (Petaurus breviceps) and the Leadbeater’s possum resemble species of flying and non-flying squirrel respectively.”[x]
The convergent evolution explanation, for which no empirical supporting evidence exists, relies on the belief that similar environments gradually caused the two animals from two very different evolutionary tree branches (the marsupial and placental) to evolve into very similar animals.[xi]
Summary The wonder and beauty of sugar gliders is obvious, and accounts for their enormous popularity. However, the evolutionary specifics of sugar gliders have stymied evolutionists ever since they were discovered. Evolutionists are no closer to proving their evolution than when they were first discovered.
[i] Callier, V. 2024. How sugar gliders got their wings. Scientific American; https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-sugar-gliders-got-their-wings/.
[ii] Croft, August. 2023. Flying squirrel vs. sugar glider: What are the differences? AZ Animals. From https://a-z-animals.com/blog/flying-squirrel-vs-sugar-glider/; updated on September 1.
[iii] Smith, Meredith J. 1973. Petaurus breviceps. Mammalian Species (30):1–5, June 13.
[iv] Hutchins, Michael (editor). 2003. Grzimek’s Animal Life Encyclopedia. Detroit, MI: Thompson Gale, p. 33.
[v] Byrnes, Greg, et al. 2011. Ecological and biomechanical insights into the evolution of gliding in mammals. Integrative and Comparative Biology 51(6):991–1001, December, p. 991; https://doi.org/10.1093/icb/icr069.
[vi] Luo, Zhe-Xi, et al. 2003.An early Cretaceous tribosphenic mammal and metatherian evolution. Science 302(5652):1934–1940, doi:10.1126/science, December 12.
[vii] Bergamini, David. 1972. The Land and Wildlife of Australia. New York, NY: Time-Life Books, pp. 88-89.
[viii] Bergamini, 1972, pp. 88-89.
[ix] Daley, J. 2017. Exceptional fossils show ancient, winged mammals may have glided above the dinosaurs. Smithsonian. From https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/mammal-ancestors-were-gliding-above-dinosaurs-180964465/, August 10.
[x] Hutchins, 2003, p. 33.
[xi] Daley, 2017.
____________________________________________________
headstart.create.ab.ca/term/convergence
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DVD / $16.00 / 44 Minutes
Sugar gliders look like chipmunks, glide like flying squirrels, and their young (called joeys like kangaroos), can live for several weeks after birth in their mother’s pouch like opossums, and amazingly they belong in the same family as kangaroos. No wonder their origin has stymied evolutionists. The three types of gliders are so different that evolutionists propose that they “evolved at least three times independently in closely related glider species, including sugar gliders. But the question lingers as to how it evolved.” [i]
My grandson had several so this summary was written from first-hand experience. They are small animals that can be held in a child’s hand. They glide by leaping from high places and sailing down to the ground. Flying squirrels and sugar gliders (also called opossum gliders) have many striking similarities: both have big eyes, a white belly, and a thin-skin membrane stretched between their arms and legs designed to allow them to glide.
Although very similar animals, sugar gliders and flying squirrels belong to different taxonomic groups.[ii] Sugar gliders belong to Order Diprotodontia, Genus Petaurus, while flying squirrels are members of Order Rodentia and Genus Sciurus. Sugar gliders are marsupials and flying squirrels are rodents. Sugar gliders are named due to their predilection for sugary foods (especially eucalyptus sap and flower nectar) and their ability to glide through the air.
Gliding Requires A Complex, Well-Designed System
The sugar glider’s ability to glide is achieved by a membrane that runs from the hand’s fifth finger to the foot’s first toe. The finger and toe design are especially critical to be able to glide. Each foot has five digits including an opposable toe on each hind foot. The opposable toes lack claws and bend to enable them to touch all the other digits which allows them to firmly grasp tree branches. The second and third hind-foot digits are partially fused together, forming a handy grooming comb. The fourth sharp and elongated forefoot digit is designed to effectively extract insects hiding under tree bark.[iii] The precise design of this complex structure also varies between the three different sugar glider families.[iv]
Their Ingenious Biomechanical Designed Gliding Mechanism
In order to explain the many design differences of the different sugar glider breeds, evolutionists are forced to postulate that
“Gliding has evolved independently at least six times in mammals. Multiple hypotheses have been proposed to explain the evolution of gliding. These include the evasion of predators, economical locomotion or foraging, control of landing forces, and habitat structure…. It is unlikely that any one of these hypotheses exclusively explains the evolution of gliding.”[v]
Ironically no evidence exists that they evolved once, let alone six times. To glide, the animal launches itself from a tree while spreading its limbs to properly stretch out the gliding membrane. The direction and flight path for as far as 100 meters is controlled by making subtle changes in the membrane’s curvature shape. The system requires a high level of coordinating its fingers, toes, membrane, nerves, veins, and tendons to function as a unit, all controlled by the animal’s tiny well-designed brain.
The evidence for design is eloquently illustrated in its eyes and ears. As a nocturnal animal, it requires large eyes to achieve good vision at night. Its large eyes also make sugar gliders alluring as pets. The eyes are set far apart, allowing precise triangulation when launching from a tall tree to reach their desired landing location.
Marsupial Evolution Stymies Evolutionists
One of the many evolutionary headaches for Darwinists is the alleged development of marsupials from placentals. The major difference between them is the means of reproduction. Placental mammals are nourished by a placenta to enable them to spend a long time developing inside the mother’s body before being born. In contrast, sugar gliders live close to 74 days within the marsupial pouch, the marsupium. Larger animals, such as kangaroos, remain there for eight long months!
Changes Required to Evolve a Placental Mammal into a Marsupial Mammal
Since sugar gliders are marsupial mammals and flying squirrels are non-marsupial mammals, major differences exist. Flying squirrels do not have a pouch, but their young develop in a placenta, as occurs in humans. When ready to be born, they are expelled by the birth process and are breastfed by the mother. Evolutionists explain these differences as due to flying squirrels having evolved from a non-marsupial mammal and sugar gliders from a marsupial. Although major birthing differences exist, comparing sugar gliders and flying squirrels side by side reveals a very similar design!
Theory of Sugar Glider Evolution
The most common theory is that both sugar gliders and flying squirrels originally evolved from some “rat-like” common ancestor, a mammalian rodent. The evolutionary ancestor of the sugar glider is speculated to have been Sinodelphys szalayi, which lived in the ‘Cretaceous Period’ with the dinosaurs. Evolutionary time assumptions date this event as about 125 million years ago. This claim raises a big problem for evolution, namely “specifically how could S. szalayi evolve from a placental mammal into a marsupial?” as the theory postulates. Only one fossil specimen of S. szalayi is known, consisting of a slab and its counter slab. This eutherian (placental mammal), although judged as astonishingly complete, did not provide any evidence for their evolution.[vi]
All known eutherians lack epipubic bones, which allows for the expansion of the abdomen pouch to hold their offspring. Epipubic bones are present in both marsupial and monotreme mammals besides sugar gliders. Two branches of modern mammals, placental and marsupial, supposedly evolved gliding, which according to evolutionists was at least 100 million years after modern mammals evolved, eventually leading to today’s marsupial sugar gliders and flying squirrels.
The theoretical marsupial family tree produced over 60 years ago has not changed much since then: no evidence exists for the evolution of any marsupial from the last common ancestor, including the sugar glider.[vii] The leading expert on marsupials, David Bergamiuni, admits “No one knows when the first marsupials came to Australia, how they got there, or even where they came from… [this] sums up the best present opinions about their evolution and radiation.”[viii] While it is claimed that they evolved from very different ancestors, placental and marsupial, over 100 million years ago, evolutionists maintain that their remarkable similarity is conveniently due to ‘convergent evolution.’
What cannot be explained is why the sugar gliders and flying squirrels are in many ways very similar. Both use similar membranes (called a patagium) for flying and both have average flight-gliding distances of from 50 to 65 feet. Except for color differences, they look remarkably similar, requiring some detailed knowledge about the animals to discern the differences. Both are very similar in size and weight, and the diet of both includes insects.
The main problem for evolution is, after flying squirrels and sugar gliders evolved from some unknown common ancestor, each line separately evolved into the very different genera, placentals versus marsupials. Then, the very different flying squirrels and sugar glider genera, theoretically evolved for another 100 million years by convergent evolution to become very similar as existing today.[ix]
Convergent evolution is used to explain, actually explain away, the embarrassing lack of evidence for marsupial evolution. Darwinists offer convergent evolution as the evolutionary rescue device, even though fossil evidence for this theory is totally lacking. Nevertheless:
“Convergent evolution is a recurring theme in marsupial history, and the diprotodonts are no exception. The diverse diprotodont body forms and lifestyles show striking similarity with mammals of several other orders… The sugar glider (Petaurus breviceps) and the Leadbeater’s possum resemble species of flying and non-flying squirrel respectively.”[x]
The convergent evolution explanation, for which no empirical supporting evidence exists, relies on the belief that similar environments gradually caused the two animals from two very different evolutionary tree branches (the marsupial and placental) to evolve into very similar animals.[xi]
Summary The wonder and beauty of sugar gliders is obvious, and accounts for their enormous popularity. However, the evolutionary specifics of sugar gliders have stymied evolutionists ever since they were discovered. Evolutionists are no closer to proving their evolution than when they were first discovered.
[i] Callier, V. 2024. How sugar gliders got their wings. Scientific American; https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-sugar-gliders-got-their-wings/.
[ii] Croft, August. 2023. Flying squirrel vs. sugar glider: What are the differences? AZ Animals. From https://a-z-animals.com/blog/flying-squirrel-vs-sugar-glider/; updated on September 1.
[iii] Smith, Meredith J. 1973. Petaurus breviceps. Mammalian Species (30):1–5, June 13.
[iv] Hutchins, Michael (editor). 2003. Grzimek’s Animal Life Encyclopedia. Detroit, MI: Thompson Gale, p. 33.
[v] Byrnes, Greg, et al. 2011. Ecological and biomechanical insights into the evolution of gliding in mammals. Integrative and Comparative Biology 51(6):991–1001, December, p. 991; https://doi.org/10.1093/icb/icr069.
[vi] Luo, Zhe-Xi, et al. 2003.An early Cretaceous tribosphenic mammal and metatherian evolution. Science 302(5652):1934–1940, doi:10.1126/science, December 12.
[vii] Bergamini, David. 1972. The Land and Wildlife of Australia. New York, NY: Time-Life Books, pp. 88-89.
[viii] Bergamini, 1972, pp. 88-89.
[ix] Daley, J. 2017. Exceptional fossils show ancient, winged mammals may have glided above the dinosaurs. Smithsonian. From https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/mammal-ancestors-were-gliding-above-dinosaurs-180964465/, August 10.
[x] Hutchins, 2003, p. 33.
[xi] Daley, 2017.
____________________________________________________
headstart.create.ab.ca/term/convergence
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Paperback / $22.00 / 171 Pages / black and white illustrations
Sugar gliders look like chipmunks, glide like flying squirrels, and their young (called joeys like kangaroos), can live for several weeks after birth in their mother’s pouch like opossums, and amazingly they belong in the same family as kangaroos. No wonder their origin has stymied evolutionists. The three types of gliders are so different that evolutionists propose that they “evolved at least three times independently in closely related glider species, including sugar gliders. But the question lingers as to how it evolved.” [i]
My grandson had several so this summary was written from first-hand experience. They are small animals that can be held in a child’s hand. They glide by leaping from high places and sailing down to the ground. Flying squirrels and sugar gliders (also called opossum gliders) have many striking similarities: both have big eyes, a white belly, and a thin-skin membrane stretched between their arms and legs designed to allow them to glide.
Although very similar animals, sugar gliders and flying squirrels belong to different taxonomic groups.[ii] Sugar gliders belong to Order Diprotodontia, Genus Petaurus, while flying squirrels are members of Order Rodentia and Genus Sciurus. Sugar gliders are marsupials and flying squirrels are rodents. Sugar gliders are named due to their predilection for sugary foods (especially eucalyptus sap and flower nectar) and their ability to glide through the air.
Gliding Requires A Complex, Well-Designed System
The sugar glider’s ability to glide is achieved by a membrane that runs from the hand’s fifth finger to the foot’s first toe. The finger and toe design are especially critical to be able to glide. Each foot has five digits including an opposable toe on each hind foot. The opposable toes lack claws and bend to enable them to touch all the other digits which allows them to firmly grasp tree branches. The second and third hind-foot digits are partially fused together, forming a handy grooming comb. The fourth sharp and elongated forefoot digit is designed to effectively extract insects hiding under tree bark.[iii] The precise design of this complex structure also varies between the three different sugar glider families.[iv]
Their Ingenious Biomechanical Designed Gliding Mechanism
In order to explain the many design differences of the different sugar glider breeds, evolutionists are forced to postulate that
“Gliding has evolved independently at least six times in mammals. Multiple hypotheses have been proposed to explain the evolution of gliding. These include the evasion of predators, economical locomotion or foraging, control of landing forces, and habitat structure…. It is unlikely that any one of these hypotheses exclusively explains the evolution of gliding.”[v]
Ironically no evidence exists that they evolved once, let alone six times. To glide, the animal launches itself from a tree while spreading its limbs to properly stretch out the gliding membrane. The direction and flight path for as far as 100 meters is controlled by making subtle changes in the membrane’s curvature shape. The system requires a high level of coordinating its fingers, toes, membrane, nerves, veins, and tendons to function as a unit, all controlled by the animal’s tiny well-designed brain.
The evidence for design is eloquently illustrated in its eyes and ears. As a nocturnal animal, it requires large eyes to achieve good vision at night. Its large eyes also make sugar gliders alluring as pets. The eyes are set far apart, allowing precise triangulation when launching from a tall tree to reach their desired landing location.
Marsupial Evolution Stymies Evolutionists
One of the many evolutionary headaches for Darwinists is the alleged development of marsupials from placentals. The major difference between them is the means of reproduction. Placental mammals are nourished by a placenta to enable them to spend a long time developing inside the mother’s body before being born. In contrast, sugar gliders live close to 74 days within the marsupial pouch, the marsupium. Larger animals, such as kangaroos, remain there for eight long months!
Changes Required to Evolve a Placental Mammal into a Marsupial Mammal
Since sugar gliders are marsupial mammals and flying squirrels are non-marsupial mammals, major differences exist. Flying squirrels do not have a pouch, but their young develop in a placenta, as occurs in humans. When ready to be born, they are expelled by the birth process and are breastfed by the mother. Evolutionists explain these differences as due to flying squirrels having evolved from a non-marsupial mammal and sugar gliders from a marsupial. Although major birthing differences exist, comparing sugar gliders and flying squirrels side by side reveals a very similar design!
Theory of Sugar Glider Evolution
The most common theory is that both sugar gliders and flying squirrels originally evolved from some “rat-like” common ancestor, a mammalian rodent. The evolutionary ancestor of the sugar glider is speculated to have been Sinodelphys szalayi, which lived in the ‘Cretaceous Period’ with the dinosaurs. Evolutionary time assumptions date this event as about 125 million years ago. This claim raises a big problem for evolution, namely “specifically how could S. szalayi evolve from a placental mammal into a marsupial?” as the theory postulates. Only one fossil specimen of S. szalayi is known, consisting of a slab and its counter slab. This eutherian (placental mammal), although judged as astonishingly complete, did not provide any evidence for their evolution.[vi]
All known eutherians lack epipubic bones, which allows for the expansion of the abdomen pouch to hold their offspring. Epipubic bones are present in both marsupial and monotreme mammals besides sugar gliders. Two branches of modern mammals, placental and marsupial, supposedly evolved gliding, which according to evolutionists was at least 100 million years after modern mammals evolved, eventually leading to today’s marsupial sugar gliders and flying squirrels.
The theoretical marsupial family tree produced over 60 years ago has not changed much since then: no evidence exists for the evolution of any marsupial from the last common ancestor, including the sugar glider.[vii] The leading expert on marsupials, David Bergamiuni, admits “No one knows when the first marsupials came to Australia, how they got there, or even where they came from… [this] sums up the best present opinions about their evolution and radiation.”[viii] While it is claimed that they evolved from very different ancestors, placental and marsupial, over 100 million years ago, evolutionists maintain that their remarkable similarity is conveniently due to ‘convergent evolution.’
What cannot be explained is why the sugar gliders and flying squirrels are in many ways very similar. Both use similar membranes (called a patagium) for flying and both have average flight-gliding distances of from 50 to 65 feet. Except for color differences, they look remarkably similar, requiring some detailed knowledge about the animals to discern the differences. Both are very similar in size and weight, and the diet of both includes insects.
The main problem for evolution is, after flying squirrels and sugar gliders evolved from some unknown common ancestor, each line separately evolved into the very different genera, placentals versus marsupials. Then, the very different flying squirrels and sugar glider genera, theoretically evolved for another 100 million years by convergent evolution to become very similar as existing today.[ix]
Convergent evolution is used to explain, actually explain away, the embarrassing lack of evidence for marsupial evolution. Darwinists offer convergent evolution as the evolutionary rescue device, even though fossil evidence for this theory is totally lacking. Nevertheless:
“Convergent evolution is a recurring theme in marsupial history, and the diprotodonts are no exception. The diverse diprotodont body forms and lifestyles show striking similarity with mammals of several other orders… The sugar glider (Petaurus breviceps) and the Leadbeater’s possum resemble species of flying and non-flying squirrel respectively.”[x]
The convergent evolution explanation, for which no empirical supporting evidence exists, relies on the belief that similar environments gradually caused the two animals from two very different evolutionary tree branches (the marsupial and placental) to evolve into very similar animals.[xi]
Summary The wonder and beauty of sugar gliders is obvious, and accounts for their enormous popularity. However, the evolutionary specifics of sugar gliders have stymied evolutionists ever since they were discovered. Evolutionists are no closer to proving their evolution than when they were first discovered.
[i] Callier, V. 2024. How sugar gliders got their wings. Scientific American; https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-sugar-gliders-got-their-wings/.
[ii] Croft, August. 2023. Flying squirrel vs. sugar glider: What are the differences? AZ Animals. From https://a-z-animals.com/blog/flying-squirrel-vs-sugar-glider/; updated on September 1.
[iii] Smith, Meredith J. 1973. Petaurus breviceps. Mammalian Species (30):1–5, June 13.
[iv] Hutchins, Michael (editor). 2003. Grzimek’s Animal Life Encyclopedia. Detroit, MI: Thompson Gale, p. 33.
[v] Byrnes, Greg, et al. 2011. Ecological and biomechanical insights into the evolution of gliding in mammals. Integrative and Comparative Biology 51(6):991–1001, December, p. 991; https://doi.org/10.1093/icb/icr069.
[vi] Luo, Zhe-Xi, et al. 2003.An early Cretaceous tribosphenic mammal and metatherian evolution. Science 302(5652):1934–1940, doi:10.1126/science, December 12.
[vii] Bergamini, David. 1972. The Land and Wildlife of Australia. New York, NY: Time-Life Books, pp. 88-89.
[viii] Bergamini, 1972, pp. 88-89.
[ix] Daley, J. 2017. Exceptional fossils show ancient, winged mammals may have glided above the dinosaurs. Smithsonian. From https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/mammal-ancestors-were-gliding-above-dinosaurs-180964465/, August 10.
[x] Hutchins, 2003, p. 33.
[xi] Daley, 2017.
____________________________________________________
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