Preserved Original Caddisfly Material?

Ever get bugged with a caddisfly infestation and have to call the exterminator? Not surprising, since there are 1,200 species in the U.S. of A alone. They're misnamed, since these moth-like creatures are of a different scientific order than flies. They live on land, but the larvae are in silk structures in the water. Caddisflies are good in their own environment, and even beneficial, but we prefer that they stay out of our homes. Also, they're often considered pests (including Potomac horse fever), and are pestering paleontologists.

Platte River caddisfly image credit: Jeanine Lackey / USFWS

This is another life form that cannot be accounted for according to bacteria-to-bug evolution. Another living fossil, their alleged millions-of-years-old ancestors are pretty much the same as the ones we see today. A larger potential problem is that a jumble of terrestrial and aquatic fossils includes what may be yet more organic material of their silk, which cannot last for millions of years. The evidence continues to mount that Earth is thousands of years old and was deluged by the Genesis Flood.

Numerous amazing fossils supposedly millions of years old contain original, non-mineralized biomolecules like collagen, elastin, ovalbumin, DNA, laminin, melanin, hemoglobin, and chitin. A new study presents evidence suggesting this list should now include silk.

Brazilian and Polish researchers described what look like caddisfly larvae silk structures in layered shale rocks from southern Brazil. The white silk-like strands stand out from the surrounding dark gray shale. The authors' results appear in the online journal Scientific Reports. Known as underwater engineers, some species of caddisfly larvae spin special sticky silk homes to which they attach organic debris for camouflage. The fossilized caddisfly casings also had ancient debris attached to them.

To read the rest, click on "Delicate Silk Fossils Point to Creation".