EVERY YEAR, the vise squeezing those creationists who cling to the notion that the Creator is hiding somewhere in the holes of science, lurking in the dark, unexplored recesses where only the faithful may tread, gets just a little bit tighter. Another hole closes, another gap is filled, and the box they hold their deity in gets just a bit more restrictive.

Of course, we here at Darwin Central see no reason why reason and faith must be at odds with one another, but for those who set them in opposition regardless, today’s turn of the screw comes courtesy of PhysOrg, detailing a possible closure of one crucial gap leading to flowering plants:

In basic terms, Amborella has one extra sterile cell that accompanies the egg cell in the female part of its reproductive apparatus known as the embryo sac, according to the study. The discovery of the unique configuration of the egg apparatus, which is thought to be a relic of intense evolutionary activity in early angiosperm history, “is akin to finding a fossil amphibian with an extra leg,” according to a May 18 Nature perspective piece accompanying Friedman’s article.

The novel embryo sac described in Nature is the first new type of egg-bearing apparatus to be discovered in flowering plants in more than 50 years, according to Friedman. “The unique four-celled egg apparatus in Amborella could represent a critical link between angiosperms and gymnosperms,” he wrote in Nature.

And the walls close in just a bit more, the god of the creationists retreats to yet another, slightly smaller fortress. Until the next unfillable gap is filled, anyway.