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3 answers

Yes.

Although I should correct an underlying assumption I detect, that evolution of a new species is "one species evolving into another species." This of course is nonsensical, as the definition of "species" means a group of organisms that can interbreed (so it doesn't make sense to compare an ancestor with a distant descendant to wonder if they are a "different" species). Instead, evolution of a new species is always about a single species branching into TWO species that are incapable of interbreeding.

Of course, if you mean an existing species evolving into another already existing species (like a dog evolving into a cat) then of course not ... but that is a ridiculous caricature of what evolution says ... so you should be a bit embarassed if that's what you meant.

So I'll give you the benefit of the doubt and assume you are asking if there is evidence "in history" of a species giving birth to new species (what we call 'speciation').

If you mean the history of the earth, then yes, of course. This evidence is recorded in fossils, and in the genes, and in the DNA of every living creature alive today.

If you mean recorded history (the last few thousand years), then yes, this has occurred recently. Again, the evidence is not in the recording of history (as the very notion of "species" is a scientific one, and therefore very recent), but in the genes and DNA of many recently established species.

Do you mean in the history of science (the last few hundred years)?

It may surprise you to learn that the answer is still Yes.

Even though evolution of new species can take hundreds of thousands to millions of years, there are many examples documented in nature, and in the lab, of a species branching into two species.

Don't believe me? Here:

"Observed instances of speciation"
http://www.talkorigins.org/faqs/faq-speciation.html

"Some More Observed Speciation Events"
http://www.talkorigins.org/faqs/speciation.html

"Natural speciation" (see examples)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Speciation#Natural_speciation

2007-02-25 08:19:28 · answer #1 · answered by secretsauce 7 · 1 0

yes everything that is alive today has done that, but I think you mean to use the word "time" instead of history because history refers to the time that was recorded by someone alive at the time. Beings evolve all the time, it has never stopped, but if yo are talking about the recent times that mankind has shown up on the scene, the answer is yes. They think they found a brand new species of big cat that was the result of pumas and panthers

2007-02-25 08:21:29 · answer #2 · answered by honest abe 4 · 0 0

Happens all the time.

Horses are descended from eohippus (I like that better than the new name, sorry). Humans evolved from a whole string of earlier ancestors. Birds evolved from dinosaurs.

2007-02-25 08:15:22 · answer #3 · answered by TychaBrahe 7 · 0 0

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