BananaSlug
Life is an experiment, experience it!
- Aug 26, 2005
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I am not saying that some animals have not mildly evolved over time to better adapt to their environment, but to think all life came from one cell animals and plants to what we have today is a JOKE!
If you accept any form of evolution, it is not a joke. Evolution is still evolution. What exactly is "mild evolution"?
Scientist try and link one animal to another, "these two creatures have similar teeth, thus they must be related somehow and thus evolved. These two have similar ear bones, thus they must be related and evolved."
Nice caricature of evolution but in reality it is much more complex than that. Similarities do show a lot of relatedness but scientists are careful to watch for similarities due to parallel evolution rather than common descent.

Speaking of homologies (which are evidence for evolution), why did you leave out embryo homology? The more closely related a species the longer their embyros remain similar.
Tell me, off of the top of your head, what creature does this embryo belong to?

Do you have proof? Well... No... we have to make logical assumptions... REALLY! So can you prove through fossil evidence that the same species truly evolved from one stage to the next?
Though I cringe at the use of the words "prove" and "proof," I'll say that with 99.99999999999999% certainty that we have sufficient evidence to "prove" evolution. Not only fossil evidence but other lines of evidence as well.

Ankle bones of middle Eocene protocetid archaeocetes Rodhocetus balochistanensis (left) and Artiocetus clavis (right) from Pakistan, compared to those of the pronghorn Antilocapra americana (center). Note double-pulleyed astragalus, notched cubloid, and prominent fibular facet on the calcaneum (not preserved in Artiocetus), which are characteristic of mammals of the order Artiodactyla.
Only artiodactyls have a double-pulley astragalus so there is one line of evidence in support of whales evolving from ancient land mammals. Another line of evidence is the development of hind limb buds during embryonic development. Modern whales (with the exception of atavistic individuals) do not have hind limbs. So why do they sprount limb buds just to reabsorb them?
A third line of evidence is genetic evidence:
The whale's closest living relative is the hippopotamus, according to new genetic research.
The suggestion comes from scientists at the Tokyo Institute of Technology, who have developed a new way of tracking an animal's evolutionary history through DNA sequences millions of years old.
Every animal inherits chunks of DNA which are specific to its species. These bits appear at precisely the same place in the animal's genetic code - or genome - as in that of its ancestors.
By comparing the DNA of different animals, the researchers have been able to redefine their family trees.
New beginnings
Their results show that whales and dolphins are more closely related to cows, camels and pigs than horses, elephants and sea cows.

A close relationship between whales and ungulates - hoofed animals - was first suggested 100 years ago, but until recently there has been little evidence to link whales with any particular group of ungulates.
Part of the problem has been the profound changes the whale has undergone in adapting to its watery environment.
The hind limbs have been lost and the front limbs have become flippers, so the only way whales could be compared to ungulates was through other links.
Underwater talking
"Hippopotami and whales share several specialised aquatic adaptations, including lack of hair and sebaceous glands, and underwater vocalisations that are apparently communicative," writes Masato Nikaido in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
These shared characteristics have been interpreted as examples of convergence - both species developed the same features independently whilst adaptating to life in the water.

Missing link
But just what that ancestor could be is more of a mystery now than before.
Modern whales are thought to be descended from an extinct primitive whale that first appeared 50 million years ago.
It, in turn, is thought to have arisen from an extinct group of land mammals called the mesonychians.
Professor Nikaido's research, together with other evidence, now suggests that there may have been a 'missing link' between the mesonychians and the first whales - if they were related at all.
The new findings have been cautiously welcomed by other biologists
"These studies provide a useful and important new source of data but they are not magic bullets. "It would, however, be highly worthwhile to extend them to other groups of organisms," said David Hillis, from the School of Biological Sciences at the University of Texas.
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We cannot show that fossil species are the in the actual line of descent but we can show a gradient of transitionals.

Explain why these fossils do not show evolution. The more "primitive" specimens are found in older strata and the more derived are found in progressively younger strata. We don't find the more derived organisms in the same strata with the more "primitive" ones.
Well... again... not currently... like I said, we have to make some logical assumptions... REALLY... based on what... two creatures share similar teeth? Well... that does indicate they have some connection. REALLY!
They have to share a lot more than just teeth.

If man evolved from ape, why didn't all apes evolve?
They did, they became more derived apes. In our past we had an ancestor that shared traits of both humans and chimpanzees. One line became humans (which are still apes) the other line became chimpanzees.
Why have we not witnessed any evolution in apes? And Why do we only see big jumps, and have to hypothesize about the change, why don't we have proof of the sublte evolutionary steps from one stage to another. If man evolved from one stage to the next slow and subtly, where is the bone evidence showing these subtle changes? Why only the big jumps?
We can witness evolution in action but you have to remember the rate of evolutionary change is directly correlated with the rate of generational turnover. A species with a high generational turnover (such as fruit flies) will have more observable rates of evolutionary change than a species with a low generational turnover (such as an ape).
Evidence for evolution is more than just observing the fossil record. If you want to see some of the evidence in support of human evolution go to my post here... http://www.christianforums.com/showpost.php?p=51100837&postcount=138
Why? Because they are only guesses... I'm sorry, if you are a PhD, you don't guess you hypothesize, but a guess is a guess, is a guess.
Hypothesis does not equal a guess. A hypothesis is an educated assumption that is then tested to either verify or falsify it. In other words, we make a hypothesis about an observation and then test it or do further observations to see if it is true or false. If you don't even have a basic understanding of science then of course you will never understand evolution.
I believe in Creation. I believe God created every plant, insect, animal, fowl, and aquadic life that exists, and that they may have slightly evolved to better suit their environment, but they started and are today basically the same as what they were from the beginning.
Any evidence besides the Bible to support your claim. With new fossil discoveries, genetic testings and evo/devo the evidence for evolution is piling faster than ever.
Now some of you may even believe a higher form of life transplanted us, or genetically created us from the life already found here... While I do not believe this, I could accept this over everything evolving from one cell creatures over time.
A quasi-Raelian belief system? Though it would be really cool if humans were "designed" by extraterrestrial beings (ever read the book Link?) there is no evidence of that happening either.
Can I prove God created everything scientifically... Nope! But neither can you prove evolution. Mine is faith, and yours, a guess - ok hypothesis. I will stick with faith!
People who claim that we cannot "prove" evolution really have no clue how much evidence is out there in support of it. I would say we have proven evolution beyond all reasonable doubt.
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