Evolutionist: Why haven't we observed one species transform into another?

Answer 1

Michael Jackson

Answer 2

Firstly, nothing really triggers evolution. Genetic selection is going on all the time. However selective pressure can change. The largest selective pressures being environmental conditions, but behavior is often overlooked. So a change in behavior or environmental conditions could cause selective pressure to change which can change the direction of genetic drift. We've seen it recently in Galapagos finches (National Geographic) where a sudden change in weather pattern caused a certain plant to become extinct. The finches that fed from it's seeds mostly died out, but a small part of the population that had a slightly bigger beak were able to alter their behavior and feed from a different type of plant. In 3 years beak morphology changed markedly as the "big beak" genes rapidly spread throughout the whole population. There are other drivers of genetic drift too. Genetic co-transmission is a major one. Certain genes do well together, but don't when they're apart. An example is antibiotic resistance in bacterial plasmids (such as those responsible for MRSA) and post-segregational killing (PSK) plasmids. Lastly, the term evolutionists actually refers to social darwinists not people who accept the theory of speciation by natural selection.

Answer 3

Evolution is a very slow process. Consider it this way:
If we could compress geological time into a 24hr period (4.4 billion years squashed into 24hrs, impressive) humans would have only been around for something like the last 6 minutes or seconds, I can't remember. Compress universal time and it's even less!
Now think of the number of species that are around and the variations present in them, and consider how many mutations and generations it may have taken to reach those small variations in a single society. How much longer might it take to see the complete mutation of a species is a question for the future.

Answer 4

You may want to look into ring species. While you don't get to see what creationists demand, things like elephants turning into giraffes, you do get to see multiple species with the intermediates between them still alive. In California, for example, Ensatina salamanders live in a ring-shaped region around the Central Valley. As time went on, genetic drift caused changes in the salamanders as they expanded around the valley. Eventually, the population looped back around the valley, and salamanders from the group that had stayed put were unable to interbreed with those descended from the group that had looped around. Therefore, at least two new species have been formed, though it is hard to tell where one species begins and the other ends.

Answer 5

Okay, pay very close attention to the following, creationist straw man argument builders:

If one species transformed into another in one generation, it would be, without a doubt, the GREATEST evidence

AGAINST!!!

evolution ever found. It would rock the Theory of Evolution to its core, and more likely than not ultimately cause it to be thrown out completely. Hear that, creationists? The lack of this event you so haughtily claim disproves evolution is actually proof that evolution is RIGHT, not proof that it's wrong. You might want to learn about the theory from scientific literature, not your church, in order to avoid future embarassment of the same "kind." (pun intended)

So, the real answer to your question--we haven't observed that happen because evolution is correct in predicting that it would not happen.

Answer 6

Not that simple...and the time it takes for something like that to happen would be far longer than we have been around. Now when you talk about the development of a species, that we have seen. Just the height, strength and longevity of the human is much more than it used to be...science and medicine have progressed us past where we used to be physically. Same with certain animals as well. Those are all kinds of factors of evolution.

Answer 7

Bacteria have evolved within your lifetime - transforming so completely scientists are constantly working to find better, stronger antibiotics to combat these better, stronger killers.

As for the rest - visit a museum - look at the mastadon, the sabertooth - these didn't evolve eh?

Deny all you want - the proof is there to look at - its not stage mahgic or instant pudding, you know.

Answer 8

because they don't. However we have, through fossil records noted a species becoming like another to fit. Whales were land animals quite like a bear, they went into the water and became streamlined like a fish.

Answer 9

If you look into a crowd of people...well, there's your answer, isn't it? (*hint: nobody looks exactly the same. even identical twins have differences.)

Transformations takes place everywhere all the time. You are only staring at a computer screen all day, so you wouldn't notice too many changes.

I like that word though: transform...excellent choice.

Answer 10

I can read through your question to see you are one of faith. I am too, but I also believe in evolution. The evolution "process" is not one that "transforms" any one given species within a matter of one's lifetime. It is a process that take sometimes up to "millions" of years. Sorry to burst your bubble..........