What is the most recent example of animals that have evolved into new species?

Question

(Make sure to cite your sources in a manner that they can be looked up and verified. You may include links. Answers without citation will not be considered for best answer.)

Answer 1

While in general speciation does take too long for us to see, there have been a number of cases of new species evolving from old ones, such as the evolution of the mosquito Culex molestus from it’s ancestor species Culex pipiens between 1898 and 1998, or the evolution of a new species of worm from Nereis acuminate between 1964 and 1992, or the evolution of the flower Mimulus cupriphilus from Mimulus guttatus between 1859 and 2001, just to name a few.) In all of these cases, a population of the original species still exists, and is unable to interbreed with the new species.

Many, many more can be found here:
http://www.talkorigins.org/faqs/faq-speciation.html

Answer 2

This question begs another, since a "new species" requires that it can not interbreed with the old: the question then is "how do either continue, if a "whole new species developed from the old, that generation is gone, and the species is discontinued" or the new species being "less in number" hasn't the population to create it's own strong presence, and therefore dies out. The "difference" between this and adaptation (a virus, which is little more than a piece of genetic material that acts as if it were alive, for instance, becoming resistant to an antibiotic) is immense.

Answer 3

An animal does not evolve into a new species. Microevolution involves only small adaptations to a species. Macroevolution, also referred to as speciation, can only be observed over extended periods of time. Remember, just because we discover a species that we didn't know existed before, we cannot claim that there is suddenly a new species.

Answer 4

Striictly speaking, 6000 years is not a large enough period of time to determine elements/evidence of genetic shift.

However:


Consider these:

In fewer than 70 years our ability to use penicillin and many of the early antibiotics is severely diminished. In fact there are strains of bacteria that are completely resistant to some antibiotics (i.e.: vancomycin resistant enterococcus = VRE). As people improperly use antibiotics, new and hardier strains of bacteria emerge.

The three most devastating epidemics in human history were variation of the influenza. The first is the Spanish Flu of 1918 which killed more people in 18 months than WWI, or (24 years of AIDS). Here is what the WHO says about all three (Spanish Flu, Asian flu, and Hong Kong Flu).

Pandemic influenza

Three times in the last century, the influenza A viruses have undergone major genetic changes mainly in their H-component, resulting in global pandemics and large tolls in terms of both disease and deaths. The most infamous pandemic was “Spanish Flu” which affected large parts of the world population and is thought to have killed at least 40 million people in 1918-1919. More recently, two other influenza A pandemics occurred in 1957 (“Asian influenza”) and 1968 (“Hong Kong influenza”) and caused significant morbidity and mortality globally. In contrast to current influenza epidemics, these pandemics were associated with severe outcomes also among healthy younger persons, albeit not on such a dramatic scale as the “Spanish flu” where the death rate was highest among healthy young adults.

Most recently, limited outbreaks of a new influenza subtype A(H5N1) directly transmitted from birds to humans have occurred in Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of China in 1997 and 2003.

Answer 5

Of course do animals evolve look this tree (http://www.stanford.edu/~dgentry/dolphin/evolution/animalsindex.html) .Microevolutions is a fact that happens to all the living organism.For example the people with dark skin have evolved different from the people that live in Europe or people that live in Asia.The Big Evolutions are becoming one in a billion years.The Lastest and biggest evolution was the evolution of human.That from an Ape become a Human but that scientific unsure :-)

Answer 6

There has never any solid evidence of any species ever evolving, just like there is no solid evidence of God.

Answer 7

IDIOT ! evolution does not exist. read a bible for once. Genesis 1:21 says And God proceeded to create every living soul that moves about according to their kinds.

Answer 8

HUMANS from the apes (people say and publish)
but i don't believe so
NO NEED TO GIVE REFERENCE

Answer 9

there is NO EVIDENCE that ANY species has evolved into another species!!!

Answer 10

not happy with the answers you got to this question yesterday?