what are major evidence that prove evolution is a fact?

Answer 1

Evidences that support evolution are:
1. similarities in DNA and proteins
2. adaptations to changes in the environment
3. fossils showing change over time
4. homologous features - structures that have similarities that indicate a common ancestor, but which are different in form and/or function today
5. analogous features - unrelated species having similar structures due to similar environmental pressures
6. vestigial structures - structures which were used in ancestors and still exist (usually in a reduced form) even though the structures don't retain their original use

Answer 2

ecolink gave a good list. eaton's answer has a lot of good points ... but then out of the blue calls evolution a 'pseudo-science'. wtf?

Before you can answer this question, you need to distinguish between the 'fact' of evolution and the 'theory' of evolution. The word "evolution" can refer to either.

When people say that evolution is a "fact", they are referring to the process that we see every day. The process is just "change at the population level." (More technically correct definition is "change in allele frequencies in a population over time", but that's just a fancy way of saying "change at the population level.")

If dog breeders can produce a cocker spaniel with floppier ears to win dog shows, that is evolution. It is artificially directed evolution, but it is evolution (change at the population level) nonetheless.

If a scientist can breed fruit-flies to get a population that consistenly has yellow eyes instead of blue eyes, that is evolution.

If you need a different flu shot every year because the populations of flu viruses have developed immunity to last-year's flu shot, that is evolution.

If a new specis of mouse is detected on an island after a parent species is accidentally introduced by humans, that is evolution.

All of these are examples of evolution that even creationists would admit. Many would try to use another word to describe it ("that's not evolution, that's adaptation", "that's artificial breeding", "that's microevolution"), but by any reasonable definition of the word "evolution" to mean simply "change at the population level", that process is evolution, and that process is an easily documentable FACT.

But many people also use the word "evolution" as a shorthand to mean "the theory of evolution." This is the theory of (A) how the above process of evolution occurs in nature (i.e. the mechanism); and (B) how that very same process can explain all the species of life on the planet. This is a theory, and always will be called a theory, just like any theory in science (the atomic theory of matter, the germ theory of disease, the heliocentric theory of the solar system, etc.) Calling it a 'theory' is not saying we have no confidence in it ... the *overwhelming* evidence, and the *overwhelming* majority of the scientific community, supports the theory. This is where the controversy is ... but this is not a controversy among scientists. Unless a better scientific theory comes along, the theory of evolution is the backbone of modern biology. That will always be called a theory ... theories do not "graduate" to become facts.

Answer 3

Facts about evolution 1. Evolution is "a process that results in heritable changes in a population spread over many generations" it seems a little silly to pretend that this doesn't happen! 2. Biologists define evolution as a change in the gene pool of a population over time. One example is insects developing a resistance to pesticides over the period of a few years.! 3. evolution not only says that life evolved, it also includes mechanisms, like mutations, natural selection, and genetic drift, which go a long way towards explaining how life evolved. 4. It is a FACT that the earth, with liquid water, is more than 3.6 billion years old. 5. It is a FACT that cellular life has been around for at least half of that period, and that organized multicellular life is at least 800 million years old. 6. It is a FACT that major life forms now on earth were not at all represented in the past. There were no birds or mammals 250 million years ago. 7. It is a FACT that major life forms of the past are no longer living. There used to be dinosaurs and Pithecanthropus, and there are none now. 8. It is a FACT that all living forms come from previous living forms. Therefore, all present forms of life arose from ancestral forms that were different. Birds arose from nonbirds and humans from nonhumans. 9. Evolution is supported by a wide range of observations throughout the fields of genetics, anatomy, ecology, animal behavior, paleontology, cellular biology, and others. 10. There is the agreement among many different dating methods pointing to an old earth and life on earth for a long time; for example: radioactivity, tree rings, ice cores, corals, supernovas - from astronomy, biology, physics, geology, chemistry and archeology. These methods are based on quite distinct fields of inquiry and are quite diverse, yet manage to arrive at quite similar dates.

Answer 4

The THEORY of evolution has a very close correlation with Genesis 1. It describes how , and in what order, life emerged on this planet in the absence of a Creator. It ignores the second law of thermodynamics, oh, never mind.

Jews know that Genesis and Exodus 1-20 are metaphorical. The problem arises when fundamentalist Chirstians try to claim that the earth and everything else was created in six days. That's ridiculous---but the fact is that a wandering, warrior tribe in Palistine 10,000 years ago somehow figured out the big bang (let there be light) the development of life, the separation of land from water---they pretty well nailed it.

It took a long time for God to create all this. But the Bible pretty much got it in order. darwin was a believer, by the way. Evolution is just a psuedo-scientific description of God creating the heavens and earth.

Answer 5

While some facts are interpreted as supporting evolution, there really is no proof. It is simply the dominant theory of the era. Adaptation is usually most sighted, but adaptation can easily exist without evolution. Also, genetic similarities between species, but creationists would argue that they are similar in genetic coding because they had the same creator. Evolution is taught as fact because there is no other explanation for the origin of species that completely excludes religious thought.

Let's make this clear: there are no transitional states of evolution in our fossil record, and most scientists, when asked for proof, refer you to other areas of science. Ask those scientists, and they'll do the same thing. Evolution is a theory in crisis, but no one wants to admit it.

Answer 6

there are none and that's why it called the THEORY of evolution. In school they tried to say we evolved from monkeys so if that the case why do monkeys walk on all fours still and not upright. then they said we are related to monkeys cause they have an opposable thumbs but so do raccoons.

Answer 7

Plenty of bones, fossils and actual plant, animal and human matter.

Answer 8

That everything evolves...a seed to a plant, an egg to a chicken, a caterpillar to a butterfly, a cell to a baby, baby to child, child to adult.

Answer 9

there isnt. drop the thought.