The relevant context follows the quote:as above here is the quote in larger context;
"For example in the Cambrian strata of rocks, vintage about 600 million years, are the oldest ones in which we find most of the major invertebrate groups. And we find many of them already in an advanced state of evolution, the very first time they appear. It is as though they were just planted there, without any evolutionary history."
If anyone claims that Dawkins actual intended meaning was 'we find a nice gradual process of evolution leading up to these fossils' rather I think that would be the misleading interpretation!
"Evolutionists of all stripes believe, however, that this really does represent a very large gap in the fossil record, a gap that is simply due to the fact that, for some reason, very few fossils have lasted from periods before about 600 million years ago."
He goes on to say that both Punctuationists and Gradualists agree on this.
That was 25 years ago. The gap in the fossil record has since been partially filled by finds of a variety of soft-bodied precursors.
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