Ok, I don't know who D.J. Futuyma is or what his angle was, but the quote makes one critical error:

Creation and evolution, between them, exhaust the possible explanations for the origin of living things.

The theory of evolution does not, nor does it attempt to, explain the origin of living things; only how our current complexity was achieved. Evolution presupposes that there are living things to start with, and how those got there is the big question.

As the joke goes:
Man: God, we've figured out how to create life.
God: Oh really? Show me.
Man: Well it's simple really. First I'll need some dirt . . .
God: Now wait a minute. Get your own dirt!