Crocoduck

Kirk Cameron holds up a composite picture, and cites the lack of a "crocoduck" as evidence against evolution, during a debate on the existence of God at Calvary Baptist Church in Manhattan in 2007

The crocoduck is a fictional hybrid animal with the head of a crocodile and the body of a duck proposed by Ray Comfort and Kirk Cameron. It became recurrent in debates involving creationists and proponents of evolution, being used as a symbol directed at those who do not understand the basic principles of evolution.

PZ Myers wearing his Crocoduck Tie during a visit to the Creation Museum

In creationism

The concept of a crocoduck was used by creationists to claim that the absence of any half-crocodile, half-duck creature disproves evolution, an argument that quickly became a popular theme used to ridicule a common representation of the theory of evolution, namely, that the theory predicts forms intermediate between any two currently living organisms.

In 2007 creationists Kirk Cameron and Ray Comfort participated in a televised debate, parts of which were aired on ABC Nightline, on the existence of God. Comfort says they produced imaginary composite pictures of what "we imagined would be genuine species-to-species transitional forms. We called one a 'crocoduck' and another was called a 'birddog.' These pictures were used to show exactly what they thought evolutionists believe, but can't back up through the fossil record." Their composite picture of the imaginary "crocoduck" showed the head of a crocodile on a duck's body.

This claim was widely publicised and ridiculed as an example of creationist misconceptions. In The Greatest Show on Earth: The Evidence for Evolution, the evolutionary scientist Richard Dawkins included a section titled 'Show me your crocoduck!' in which he compared this to the question put by another creationist as to why there was no transitional fossil "fronkey" between frogs and monkeys, and described it as a warped misunderstanding of evolution. Modern species share a common ancestor, but are neither descended from each other nor from some crude composite chimera, and ducks are not descended from crocodiles. An illustration shows the Crocoduck Tie, designed by web designer Josh Timonen in commemoration of this misconception. Dawkins has stated that "There are only two in existence. PZ Myers has one. I'm proud to say I have the other." Dawkins' tie made a prominent appearance on an episode of The Colbert Report.

Fossils

Reconstruction of Anatosuchus showing its broad snout (with teeth) and upright walking posture

Velociraptor mongoliensis restored with large wing feathers, as evidenced by fossil quill knobs. Many dinosaurs had both birdlike and crocodillian traits, being descendants of crocodile-like creatures as well as close relatives of the first birds.

In 2009, new fossils of several types of ancient crocodile were found, including one with a flat broad snout reminiscent of a duck's bill, though it has teeth and is obviously crocodilian rather than bird-like. This genus has been named Anatosuchus or "DuckCroc", and it had an upright stance rather than the sprawled legs of modern crocodiles. Also, the extinct pelagornithids, or "bony-toothed birds" could be good candidates, being waterbirds with tooth-like structures in their beaks - making such a beak look like a crocodile's maw.

See also

• Creation–evolution controversy
• Intelligent design
• Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School District (Dover Case)
• Straw man
• Wedge strategy