Ben Levi,
You are wrong about the fossil record. There is no argument that the fossil record clearly supports common descent. There is some arguments as to what mechanism for that descent is supported by the fossil record but that’s it.
What do you mean when you say “there is no fossil record?”
As an aside your assertion that any talmid chachom would have probably predicted what is found in the fossil record is untrue as well. Many rishonim and achronim believed that no species ever go extinct, see the chinuch mitzvah 545 for an example.