Evolution can be seen in terms of subtle variations within a species, but we don't really see apes evolving into neanderthals, or fish evolving into amphibians. If that's how we got here, why doesn't it still happen?
2006-09-08 11:05:46 · 16 answers · asked by slyry75 3 in Politics & Government ➔ Politics
Neddie- You're right. I just thought I would get better responses here.
2006-09-08 11:12:15 · update #1
It still seems like a big jump to go from a one celled organism to a human being, doesn't it? I'm not saying you're wrong, but you admit that it's hard to comprehend, right?
2006-09-08 11:16:01 · update #2
athene noctua- I believe I already conceded that point, but the moths won't change into birds, right?
2006-09-08 11:18:03 · update #3
tom p- The viruses mutate, but they are still viruses after the mutation. Viruses can't mutate into bacteria.
2006-09-08 11:19:20 · update #4
Dizz- I'm not saying a one celled organism one day, a human the next. But you think that's what happened over millions of years, right?
2006-09-08 11:25:02 · update #5
Evolution has always been occuring and continues to occur. It takes hundreds, thousands, even millions of generations (having new offspring) for speciation to occur (that is gradually from one species comes a new species) Scientists define a species as organisms that mate exclusively and can't mate with other species to produce viable offspring. Life began as single celled organisms and over time with different environmental influences, new species formed that were able to produce offspring (they were "fit" as in "survival of the fittest"). After billions of years we have the organismal diversity that we see today. The main point is life forms do evolve over long periods of time.
I also want to make the point that viruses are considered non-living because they do not have the mechanism to replicate without a host.
Also, evolution and mutation are not the same thing.
2006-09-09 17:13:13 · answer #1 · answered by superc4 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It does still happen.
It's not perceptible over a single lifespan or even over 100 generations. Evolution occurs VERY slowly.
The evidence is in the fossil record and in the commonality of similar genes between species. For example, human and apes are >98% identical when their DNA is compared.
From a one celled organism to a human is a big jump. Didn't happen that way. If that's what people are saying about how evolution happened then they're simplifying it to absurdity in order to discount the real idea of how evolution works. I recommend a good textbook on evolution - should clear things up!
Life on earth began as single celled organisms - yes. Slowly, over 400 million years multicellular organisms evolved. Species begin simply as subsets of populations that become reproductively isolated from each other. Over long periods they can no longer reproduce for many various reasons - an example would be a Great Dane can no longer reproduce with a toy poodle even though they are both dogs. Over time separate species form such as a fox and a wolf. The evidence from DNA comparison is very compelling and overwhelming.
2006-09-08 18:10:52 · answer #2 · answered by Dastardly 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Because in by far the majority of cases, evolution takes hundreds of years at the least. Even thousands. Some species are so much the master of their environment that they have not evolved much for hundreds of thousands, even millions of years.
The reason why you're not seeing it happen today is because the time scale (our lifetime) is too small. It's like looking up at the moon and saying it's not moving – of course we know darned well that it is.
2006-09-08 18:34:40 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Of course it does. Evolution of mammals with a long generation span is too slow for us to see. The evolution of fish into amphibians took millions of years. A good example to see how evolution works is a species of moth in England, who evolved in the 19.th and 20th from a bark couloured species into a mainly black one, because the soot on the trees gave black individuals a better rate of survival. Now thy are going back to being mostly bark coloured again, because trees are not covered in soot any more.
2006-09-08 18:13:09 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋
Based on your response about conspiracies again it would appear that certain life forms have not evolved enough. The proof that the Iraq war, the Saddam connection and 9/11were fabricated lies directly from the leadership of this country and you dont want to believe that there is something going on here is proof that evolution did stop.
2006-09-09 04:04:31 · answer #5 · answered by metalsoft@sbcglobal.net 2 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Evolution is still happening. It takes a while for a big change to take place. You can see small examples in the evolution of "gray wolf" to "mini-dachshund."
2006-09-08 18:11:59 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋
If you have a flu shot this year it will be because strains of virus are mutating and changing all the time.
2006-09-08 18:13:10 · answer #7 · answered by tom p 1 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Maybe we still are evolving. The human race is getting bigger and taller.
2006-09-08 18:12:19 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋
Peeple are gittin more stupidder and mor stupder evry day end u can'd evn tel it.
2006-09-08 18:12:24 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
You ever see a mud fish? a skink? should I go on or do you plan to take zoology next semester.
2006-09-08 18:11:37 · answer #10 · answered by mymadsky 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋