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Technically, fossils are not required to demonstrate the accuracy of the central hypotheses of evolutionary theory. The accuracy of common descent and natural selection can be demonstrated effectively only referring to observations in zoology, molecular and developmental Biology, genetics and comparative genomics. However, the fossil record does allow palaeontologists to have a more detailed look at the form and behaviour of past lifeforms, something that comparative genomics by itself may not, and to confirm specific hypotheses about the nature and timing of specific events in the evolutionary history of diverging lineages. In this last category, transitional fossils are perhaps the most significant markers in the fossil record.

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Q: Which fossils are the most important to evolutionary theory?
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