I missed the part where these scientists said there were no transitional fossils. No as in none, zero, not a single one at all.
[Extremely rare] does not equal [not a single one]
Transitional fossils are comparatively rare, but they do exist. None of your quotes say that transitional fossils do not exist. But you claimed they do not exist.
Ironically we now have both Gould being directly quoted as saying that creationists are misrepresenting him when they quotemine him on transitional fossils, and you yourself have brought pictures of actual transitional fossils.
Archaeopteryx, Tiktaalik, and everything from Ambulocetus to Dorudon are textbook examples of transitional fossils.
You are confusing “no transitional fossils” with a theory of phyletic gradualism envisioned by Darwin, whereby in between two distinct groups of organisms it was hypothesized a long and smooth transition over long periods of geological time.
Gould and Eldredge instead postulated that these transitional periods were much shorter and more jagged than the smooth transitions envisioned by Darwin.
Gould directly and literally testified in the 1980 Arkansas creationism trial that creationists were misrepresenting him:
On transitional fossils:
Q Does that exhibit contain a chart illustrating punctuated equilibrium?
A Yes. I have two charts here. The first, your Honor, illustrates the principle of gradual-
Q What page would that be?
A That is on page 642. —illustrating the slow and steady transformation of a single population. The next page, page 643, illustrates punctuated equilibrium in which we see that in geological perspectives, though remember, we’re talking about tens of thousands of years, that in geological perspective, species are originating in periods of time that are not geologically resolvable and are represented by single bedding planes and, therefore, appear in the record abruptly.
I might say at this point, if I may, that there are two rather different senses that would turn gap into record. The first one refers to an existence of all interceptable intermediate degrees. And to that extent, those are gaps, and I believe they are gaps because indeed, evolution doesn’t work that way, usually. They are gaps because that is not how evolution occur. There is another sense of gaps in the record claiming, in other words, there are not transitional forms
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A (Continuing) whatsoever in the fossil record. It’s, in fact, patently false.
Indeed, on page 643, if you consult the chart, we do display an evolutionary trend here on the right, and evolutionary trends are very common in the fossil record. Punctuate equilibrium does not propose to deny it. By evolutionary trends, we mean the existence of intermediate forms, structurally intermediate forms between ancestors in the sense that we don’t have every single set, and we find transitional forms like that very abundant in the fossil record.
But the theory of punctuated equilibrium says that you shouldn’t expect to find all interceptable intermediate degrees. It’s not like rolling a ball up an inclined plane, it’s rather, a trend is more like climbing a staircase, where each step would be geologically abrupt. In that sense that are many transitional forms in the fossil record.
I might also state that when the geological evidence is unusually good, that we can even see what’s happening within one of these punctuations.
Later:
Q Professor Gould, you have just talked about a transitional form, Archaeopteryx. Could you give an example of an entire transitional sequence in the fossil record?
A Yes. A very good example is that provided by our own group, the mammals.
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Q Would it assist you in your testimony to refer to an exhibit?
A Yes. I have a series of skulls illustrating the most important aspect of this transition.