2007-10-12 06:31:47 · 16 answers · asked by Mark S 6 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
Evolution requires thousands/millions of gradual steps to produce new species. These steps taking millions of years. However, if we look at the Cambrian explosion, thousands of new species appeared within a span of a few million years. How could so many new species randomly develop in such a short period of time?
To explain this evolution was changed to say "well, a bunch of new species could occur at one time", even though that was almost a complete reversal from the previous version of evolution.
All it goes to show is that evolution is just an ongoing theory that will change as more evidence comes to light. The key thing to take away from it all is the evolution is a scientific THEORY not a FACT.
2007-10-12 06:34:22 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 4⤋
Evolution is a explanation of the Cambrian explosion. There was a rapid increase in the number of species during that time period. since it was a long time ago, there are very little fossils from that time period, so scientists don't have all the answers about the specifics. Creationists use this to mean that a bunch of species "appeared" rather then evolved.
2007-10-12 06:43:01 · answer #2 · answered by Take it from Toby 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋
The Cambrian "explosion" took approximately 30 million years although some changes only took between 5 and 10 million years.
2007-10-12 06:37:23 · answer #3 · answered by OPad 4 · 5⤊ 0⤋
It's been a long time since bio 101, but I think the main difficulty is the sudden proliferation of so many new variants in such a short period of time. The current theory of evolution says that it takes quite a long time for small mutations to add up to a new breed, and the cambrian proliferation just doesn't seem to fit that.
2007-10-12 06:35:20 · answer #4 · answered by juicy_wishun 6 · 1⤊ 1⤋
The discovery of developmental genes such as the homeobox genes explains rapid diversification of segmented creatures, the type that arose in the Cambrian, quite well. The increase in biomass following the Cryogenian period also contributed to the rapid expansion of life.
2007-10-12 09:21:00 · answer #5 · answered by novangelis 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
The usual explanation given is that evolution couldn't have happened fast enough to create all the weird forms that suddenly appeared.
However this ignores the fact that the appearance of the Hox genes that allowed for many body layouts to be tried and tested. Since there wasn't much competition these forms flourished until the predators came along.
2007-10-12 06:36:40 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 3⤊ 0⤋
But it does explain the Cambrian explosion.
2007-10-12 06:34:14 · answer #7 · answered by ? 6 · 4⤊ 1⤋
No.
Because evolution CAN explain it.
You've become confused after reading Stephen Jay Gould's book 'a wonderful life'. If not him directly, you may have read something even worse, a creationist tract inspired by the same perceived holes in evolutionary theory.
It was highly misleading, readway Simon Conway Morris's book on the same. He was pushed to write it when he see what nonsense Gould was spouting.
Gould (rest in peace, he was ok really) was a very well known evolutionary theorist but his ideas were really considered quite silly by most biologists and they only feared from admonishing him from the thought that at least he was on the rational side of the evolution/creationism debate... not that there IS a debate... but that's another story.
2007-10-12 06:35:53 · answer #8 · answered by Leviathan 6 · 4⤊ 1⤋
One side note - When they say "Explosion" they are talking about an explosion that took 10-15 million years.
Some people think it was a second or day or a year and that is not correct.
2007-10-12 06:36:56 · answer #9 · answered by Alan 7 · 4⤊ 0⤋
A) Not yet, and only because we do not yet know all the geological, topographical, climatological, chemical and tectonic components that went into it.
B) It's kinda tough really knowing what all's there when most of it was too soft-bodied to leave any fossils.
2007-10-12 06:35:29 · answer #10 · answered by Granny Annie 6 · 1⤊ 2⤋