If in a few years, a single species of bacteria diverges into several distinct species, what exactly is this?

Question

(In this case, the species happen to only vaguely resemble the original, but effectively be as different from each other as any other two bacteria)

-Christians, what would you call this?...

For Jack P:

The doubling/generational time for some bacteria is around 20 minutes, which means in 3 years, they can go through 525,600 generations. Assuming a dog population could in theory double on average, in a year, then the difference between a dog and a wolf could be reached by bacteria in about 3.5 days.

The amount of generations taking place in 3 years of bacterial evolution mentioned earlier is equivelant to the difference between a human and a gorilla if we assume that on average our ancestors could double their populations in 15 years (7.8 million years.) Even if we were to assume our population could double in 8 years to the bacteria's 20 minutes, it would still represent the difference between us and bonobos.

Answer 1

I'm sure they'll call it "micro" evolution.

Answer 2

This is called evolution. More precisely, microevolution.

HeLa cells supposedly have created a new species:
I usually don't like wikipedia, but here you go.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HeLa

Helacyton gartleri

Due to their ability to replicate indefinitely, and their non-human number of chromosomes, Leigh Van Valen described HeLa as an example of the contemporary creation of a new species, Helacyton gartleri, named after Stanley M. Gartler, who Van Valen credits with discovering "the remarkable success of this species". His argument for speciation depends on three points:
The chromosomal incompatibility of HeLa cells with humans.
The ecological niche of HeLa cells.
Their ability to persist and expand well beyond the desires of human cultivators.
As well as proposing a new species for HeLa cells, Van Valen proposes in the same paper that the new family Helacytidae and the genus Helacyton. [3]

This is microevolution. Yes evolution is still a theory. Microevolution is FACT. Macroevolution is THEORY.


Now some people, like Zero Cool, must believe microevolution is a made up term by Christians to somehow side with evolution. Case in point, this question from The ring of debris around Uranus:
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=AjtMuNuZ2HcftANVai33qVbty6IX;_ylv=3?qid=20070906145412AAf5lon&show=7#profile-info-7wiGnKe9aa

Microevolution is real. As you can see the HeLa cells have proven this. This is also the same idea behind bacteria becoming resistant to antibiotics. Microevolution is at hand.

This is how UC Berkeley defines microevolution. And this is one of the best biomedical research universities in the country.
http://evolution.berkeley.edu/evosite/evo101/IVMicroevolution.shtml
Difference between micro and macro evolution
http://www.exchangedlife.com/Creation/macro-evol.shtml

Answer 3

To be frank about it, this has already happened many centuries ago. The bacteria which does not resemble the original is located in modern day Babylon, and all regions which count it as their center.

Answer 4

Speciation. Becoming two different species. We can see this in mammals, but it is also true in bacteria. They came from a common source (ancestor) but through many cycles of reproduction, they become two different species.

Answer 5

Q: what exactly is this?

A: Seems to me it might be the single cell equivalent of the difference between a Pekingese and a Great Dane.

I'm not up to date on the stuff, but that does come to mind.

Answer 6

I would call this mutation because evolution occurs over millions of years, not just a few.

Answer 7

I'd call it a mutation, variation, alteration, anomaly, change, deviant, evolution, innovation, modification, permutation, transfiguration, transformation, variation and/or vicissitude. Why?

So, you tell me :) ... where'd the first single species come from?

Answer 8

It's nothing. Evolution doesn't exist and is impossible, remember?

Even though an even better example would be the HIV virus that can be observed to mutate and evolve within one human.

No matter how much scientific evidence we provide, they will not believe.

Answer 9

I know the human race was once described as a virus, multiplying and making the earth sick.

Answer 10

10 points - evolution

Answer 11

I believe it's called evolution.