What, in your opinion, is the most compelling evidence for macroevolution?

Question

By "macroevolution", I mean evolution above the species level (i.e., evolution from one species into a new species), as opposed to microevolution (changes in the traits of organism between species. Please cite your sources. If you say something and do not cite it, I will not award you the "Best Answer".

If you do not believe in macroevolution, I don't want your answers unless they are science based rather then based upon the mythologies of the Bible.

Thank you everyone!!!

Answer 1

Some of the best evidence for macroevolution is the existence of vestigial structures. Vestigial structures are anatomical structures of organisms in a species which are considered to have lost much or all of their ORIGINAL function through evolution (N.B. vestigial structures can still be functional, but not in their original use). Most pythons have vestigial pelvises. (Cohn 2001). The blind salamander species 'Typhlotriton spelaeus' and 'Proteus anguinus', have eyes with retinas and lenses, even though they are sealed from outside light by eyelids that have grown over them (Durand et al. 1993; Kos et al. 2001). Humans and other primates have vitamin C pseudogenes (i.e. inactive versions of the vitamin C gene) that are similar in structure to the functional vitamin C genes found in other animals, suggesting all primates share a common ancestor in which the ability to synthesise ascorbic acid was lost. (Nishikimi et al. 1992).

Another closely related piece of evidence are atavisms. An atavism is "the reappearance of a lost character specific to a remote evolutionary ancestor and not observed in the parents or recent ancestors of the organism displaying the atavistic character". The classic atavistic trait is that of the newborn baby born with a tail. More than 100 cases of human tails have been reported in the medical literature. Less than one third of the well-documented cases are what are medically known as "pseudo-tails" (i.e. lesions of various types coincidentally found in the caudal region of newborns, often associated malformations of the the spinal column or coccyx). (Dao and Netsky 1984). In mice, down-regulation of the Wnt-3a gene prevents tail growth during development (Greco et al. 1996) and similar effects have been observed in humans (Chan et al. 2002). This suggests a commonality of origin between mice and humans as both have the same gene. It is suggested that a mutation causing up-regulation of the Wnt-3a gene results in the retention of a tail, as an atavism, in a newborn. (There is a good picture of an atavistic tail in Bar-Maor et al. 1980)

Answer 2

Hi. First, my source : http://www.answers.com/main/ntquery?s=macroevolution&gwp=16
In my opinion, evolution is a time based adaptation to an existing or changing environment. I say time based because it takes time for a mutation to prove itself beneficial and reproduce. Those who deny evolution must also deny extinction, because they fit together. We don't seem to mourn the loss of a species, but without some other form to take it's place then we are on a death spiral. I could type a lot more but you get the idea of my point.

Answer 3

I am answering without the use of citations as I will not be referring to particular work.

I can, however, direct you to one of the most compelling (at least personally) evidence of macroevolution and that lays in the field of genetics.

If you do searches online or for electronic articles, you'll find various articles which discuss the relatively new field of using computer programs to determine species' lineages using their sequenced genomes. This phylogenetic analysis is quite compelling as not only can such data show how closely two particular species are related (due to similarities in genomes) but can also determine which parental ancestor species came from. Today's most current phylogenetic trees are constructed using computer programs which rely on the sequence of various genomes (there are a number of completely sequenced genomes for various species from plants to insects to mammals known today).

Phylogenetic trees can even be constructed from sets of heavily conserved genes as well such as those proteins involved in DNA replication, transcription, and protein translation --- all of which are utilized by all living organisms.

-Kevin

Answer 4

For me it is a tie between whales and snakes showing up with atavistic limbs and the shared ascorbic acid synthetase transposon in the great apes.

Answer 5

The "universal" genetic code and the rare variations in small groups. This is compelling evidence linking the kingdoms.

Answer 6

There is no evidence because evolution is impossible.