evolution evidence for & against

God created all and things continue to develop/evolve in a lot of ways.

amen

I believe in macro evolution. One thing you have to relize is niether the religious nor the scientific side has been sompletely proven but evelution does have more to back it up, one is just recent the fact that when humans first came about we ate a lot of things our stomachs couldnt handle so our apendix had to help digest it however now we know what our stomach can handle so we no longer use our apendix now more and more people are being born without them. Thats more of an example for micro evolution but there is way too much to type for macro and I read this on the economist or something it was a few weeks ago and im not gonna go try to find the link for this answer but I promise I found it from a pretty reliable source. Anyways yea thats what I think

ty is right and you need to realise that god and evolution have nothing to do with each other

Amblessed, you seem to not understand the meaning of EVIDENCE… it means more than what you think…

How Do We Know That Evolution Has Occurred?

The evidence for evolution has primarily come from four sources:

1. the fossil record of change in earlier species 

2. the chemical and anatomical similarities of related life forms
3. the geographic distribution of related species
4. the recorded genetic changes in living organisms over many generations

The Fossil Record

Geological strata containing an evolutionary sequence of fossils Remains of animals and plants found in sedimentary rock deposits give us an indisputable record of past changes through time. This evidence attests to the fact that there has been a tremendous variety of living things. Some extinct species had traits that were transitional between major groups of organisms. Their existence confirms that species are not fixed but can evolve into other species over time.

The evidence also shows that what have appeared to be gaps in the fossil record are due to incomplete data collection. The more that we learn about the evolution of specific species lines, the more that these so-called gaps or “missing links in the chain of evolution” are filled with transitional fossil specimens. One of the first of these gaps to be filled was between small bipedal dinosaurs and birds. Just two years after Darwin published On the Origin of Species, a 150-145 million year old fossil of Archaeopteryx was found in southern Germany. It had jaws with teeth and a long bony tail like dinosaurs, broad wings and feathers like birds, and skeletal features of both. This discovery verified the assumption that birds had reptilian ancestors.

Archaeopteryx fossil Archaeopteryx recreation Archaeopteryx tail feathers

Since the discovery of Archaeopteryx, there have been many other crucial evolutionary gaps filled in the fossil record. Perhaps, the most important one, from our human perspective, was that between apes and our own species. Since the 1920’s, there have been literally hundreds of well dated intermediate fossils found in Africa that were transitional species leading from apes to humans over the last 6-7 million years. This evidence is presented in the last 3 tutorials of this series.

Transitional Tetrapod Fossil–another example of filling what had been an evolutionary gap.

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Chemical and Anatomical Similarities

Living things on earth are fundamentally similar in the way that their basic anatomical structures develop and in their chemical compositions. No matter whether they are simple single celled protozoa or highly complex organisms with billions of cells, they all begin as single cells that reproduce themselves by similar division processes. After a limited life span, they also all grow old and die.

All living things on earth share the ability to create complex molecules out of carbon and a few other elements. In fact, 99% of the proteins, carbohydrates, fats, and other molecules of living things are made from only 6 of the 92 most common elements. This is not a mere coincidence.

All plants and animals receive their specific characteristics from their parents by inheriting particular combinations of genes. Molecular biologists have discovered that genes are, in fact, segments of DNA molecules in our cells.

section of a DNA molecule

These segments of DNA contain chemically coded recipes for creating proteins by linking together particular amino acids in specific sequences.

simple protein molecule

All of the tens of thousands of types of proteins in living things are made of only 20 kinds of amino acids. Despite the great diversity of life on our planet, the simple language of the DNA code is the same for all living things. This is evidence of the fundamental molecular unity of life.

Human arm bones (typical vertebrate pattern)

In addition to molecular similarities, most living things are alike in that they either get the energy needed for growth, repair, and reproduction directly from sunlight, by photosynthesis , or they get it indirectly by consuming green plants and other organisms that eat plants.

Many groups of species share the same types of body structures because they inherited them from a common ancestor that had them. This is the case with the vertebrates , which are the animals that have internal skeletons. The arms of humans, the forelegs of dogs and cats, the wings of birds, and the flippers of whales and seals all have the same types of bones (humerus, radius, and ulna) because they have retained these traits of their shared common ancient vertebrate ancestor.

All of these major chemical and anatomical similarities between living things can be most logically accounted for by assuming that they either share a common ancestry or they came into existence as a result of similar natural processes. These facts make it difficult to accept a theory of special and independent creation of different species.

Geographic Distribution of Related Species

Another clue to patterns of past evolution is found in the natural geographic distribution of related species. It is clear that major isolated land areas and island groups often evolved their own distinct plant and animal communities. For instance, before humans arrived 60-40,000 years ago, Australia had more than 100 species of kangaroos, koalas, and other marsupials but none of the more advanced terrestrial placental mammals such as dogs, cats, bears, horses. Land mammals were entirely absent from the even more isolated islands that make up Hawaii and New Zealand. Each of these places had a great number of plant, insect, and bird species that were found nowhere else in the world. The most likely explanation for the existence of Australia’s, New Zealand’s, and Hawaii’s mostly unique biotic environments is that the life forms in these areas have been evolving in isolation from the rest of the world for millions of years.

Genetic Changes Over Generations

The earth’s environments are constantly changing, usually in subtle and complex ways. When the changes are so great as to go beyond what most members of a population of organisms can tolerate, widespread death occurs. As Charles Darwin observed, however, not all individuals always perish. Fortunately, natural populations have genetic diversity. Those individuals whose characteristics allow them to survive an environmental crisis likely will be the only ones able to reproduce. Subsequently, their traits will be more common in the next generation–evolution of the population will have occurred.

This process of natural selection resulting in evolution can be easily demonstrated over a 24 hour period in a laboratory Petri dish of bacteria living in a nutrient medium. When a lethal dose of antibiotic is added, there will be a mass die-off. However, a few of the bacteria usually are immune and survive. The next generation is mostly immune because they have inherited immunity from the survivors. That is the case with the purple bacteria in the Petri dishes shown below–the bacteria population has evolved.

Evolution of antibiotic resistant bacteria

This same phenomenon of bacteria evolution speeded up by human actions occurs in our own bodies at times when an antibiotic drug is unable to completely eliminate a bacterial infection. That is the reason that medical doctors are sometimes hesitant to recommend an antibiotic for their patients and insist that the full dosage be used even if the symptoms of illness go away. They do not want to allow any potentially antibiotic resistant bacteria to survive.

Antibiotic resistance–how mutation and fast reproductive rates of

   microorganisms can outpace modern medical breakthroughs
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Dog variety resulting from selective breeding over many generations People have developed many new varieties of plants and animals by selective breeding. This process is similar to the bacteria experiment described above. Selection of specimens to breed based on particular traits is, in effect, changing the environment for the population. Those individuals lacking the desirable characteristics are not allowed to breed. Therefore, the following generations more commonly have the desired traits.

Insect with a high reproductive potential

Species that mature and reproduce large numbers in a short amount of time have a potential for very fast evolutionary changes. Insects and microorganisms often evolve at such rapid rates that our actions to combat them quickly lose their effectiveness. We must constantly develop new pesticides, antibiotics, and other measures in an ever escalating biological arms race with these creatures. Unfortunately, there are a few kinds of insects and microbes that are now significantly or completely resistant to our counter measures, and some of these species are responsible for devastating crop losses and deadly diseases.

If evolution has occurred, there should be many anatomical similarities among varieties and species that have diverged from a common ancestor. Those species with the most recent common ancestor should share the most traits. For instance, the many anatomical similarities of wolves, dogs, and other members of the genus Canis are due to the fact that they are descended from the same ancient canine species. Wolves and dogs also share similarities with foxes, indicating a slightly more distant ancestor with them.

Genetic Tool Kit–evidence of a common set of genes for body parts shared by many,

    if not most, creatures
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Science and Faith–roundtable discussion about resolving conflicts with religion

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Evolving Ideas: Why Is Evolution Controversial Anyway–reconciling a belief in science

    and religion
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Given the abundant evidence supporting the theory of biological evolution, it is highly probable that evolution has occurred and is still occurring today. However, there remains speculation in regards to the specific evolutionary path of some species lines and the relative importance of the different natural processes responsible for their evolution.

Much has been added to our understanding of the nature of evolution since the 19th century. It is now known that there are six different processes that can operate independently or in consort to bring about evolution. The understanding of these processes has become the basis for an overall synthetic theory of evolution . This theory encompasses multiple causes, including Charles Darwin’s concept of natural selection, Gregor Mendel’s experimental results concerning genetic inheritance, as well as a number of crucial 20th century discoveries. The synthetic theory of evolution will be revisited with more detail in the 6th tutorial of this biological anthropology series.

The Public Perception of Evolution in the United States

Biological evolution is far from being universally accepted by Americans. Annual national polls carried out since the mid 1980’s by the Center for Biomedical Communication at Northwestern University School of Medicine indicate that the percentage of Americans who accept evolution has dropped from 45% to 40%. Curiously, the number who reject evolution have also dropped from 48% to 39% over the same time period. Those who are uncertain about whether evolution occurs or not have increased from 7% to 21%. While it is encouraging that fewer people are now hostile to the idea of biological evolution, the U.S. still has a higher percentage of its population who hold this view than 33 of the 34 European nations and Japan. This is very likely a consequence of the relative emphasis placed on teaching science in public schools in the different countries. In addition, anti-evolution sentiment is far stronger in American national politics, especially in the Republican Party.

NOTE: Some critics have said that the kinds of rapid evolutionary changes in insects and bacteria referred to above are not good evidence of the process of natural evolution because they occur as a result of human interference. However, there is abundant evidence of rapid evolution occurring today independent of people. An example was described by Cristina Sandoval in the May 23, 2002 issue of Nature. A species of insect called the “walking stick” (Timena cristinae) found in the Santa Ynez Mountains of California now exists in two distinct varieties or forms that are in the process of evolving into two separate species by adapting to different environments. The insect forms differ in terms of genetically determined color patterns–one is striped and the other is not. The striped ones hide from predators on the striped chamise plant, while the unstriped ones hide on the unstriped blue lilac plant. Those that have inherited the appropriate camouflaging color pattern for their chosen environment survive the onslaught of lizards and birds. In this case, the natural predators, rather than humans, are the driving forces of natural selection. Mating experiments show that each variety of “walking stick” prefers to mate only with others having the same color pattern. This breeding isolation is leading to the evolution of two distinct species.

http://anthro.palomar.edu/evolve/evolve_3.htm

The Bible says we are not meant to understand everything. Of course I believe the Father God created all things.