Evolution Theory Critique by Owen Borville September 19, 2024
The theory of evolution by natural selection attempts to describe a mechanism of how living species change over time. The theory of evolution is a rejection that life was created suddenly in mature form during a creation event by an Intelligent Designer, most commonly known as a creator God.
Work by naturalists James Hutton and Charles Lyell concluded that the formation and history of the earth contained slow and gradual change over long periods of time.
Two naturalists, Charles Darwin and Alfred Wallace, independently proposed through observation of nature that evolution of living species occurs by way of a mechanism known as natural selection.
Natural selection is the survival of the fittest organisms, or a more prolific reproduction of individuals with favorable traits that survive environmental change because of those traits, which leads to evolutionary change in favor of those favorable traits.
However, this natural selection has only been observed at the microlevel, where organisms become adapted to their environment. One species has never been observed to evolve into another species.
Variation: Natural selection can only take place if there is variation among individual organisms in a population. Genetic diversity in a population comes from two main mechanisms: mutation and sexual reproduction.
A mutation is a change in DNA and is the ultimate source of alleles or new genetic variation in any population. Sexual reproduction also leads to genetic variation as alleles combine to produce unique combinations of genotypes and phenotypes in each offspring.
An adaptation is a heritable trait that helps an organism's survival and reproduction in its present environment. When environmental change occurs, sometimes organisms cannot adapt and become extinct.
Divergent evolution is when two species evolve in diverse directions from a common point, according to evolutionist theory. However, the differences in organisms with much similarity is caused by genetic variation. Species are always the same species while changes in size, color, hair texture and other genetic variations are common.
Convergent evolution is used to explain when similar traits appear in different species, such as wings in bats and insects. However, these are two very different species and are each a product of a unique intelligent design. There is no evolutionary linkage other than a common intelligent designer style.
Evolutionists claim that divergent and convergent evolution occur over large amounts of time in the millions of years that cannot be observed or proved to have occurred. We can only observe a unique intelligent design in all living organisms and their "proposed evolution" over millions of years cannot be observed or confirmed.
Claims of proof of evolution theory by proponents of evolution include the existence of fossils found inside sedimentary rock layers. However, these rock layers that are claimed to have been formed millions of years apart are actually the product of a single flooding event, where all of the rock layers are formed during a single event. Therefore, these fossils found in each rock layer are not thousands or millions of years apart but rather are buried from a single flooding event.
Another claimed proof of evolution theory is the presence of homologous structures, or similar anatomy and embryology in different species of organisms. However, these homologous structures are not proof of evolution over millions of years, but rather, are the similar style in intelligent design.
Vestigial structures are body parts that seem to have no function, and evolutionist theory proponents claim that these structures are leftovers from evolutionary processes. However, new and current research has discovered that each of these vestigial parts actually do have a function that was unknown in the past.
When different types of organisms that live in the same environment share a convergence of form, such that similar features are present in that environment, evolutionist theorists claim an evidence of evolution theory. However, these features are traits that are part of their intelligent design. For example, different animals living in the arctic environments tend to have white fur, which helps in hiding from predators. This development of similar features of different animals actually could be an evidence against evolution and an evidence for intelligent design, where all animals are intelligently designed to adapt to their environment, or are designed specifically for their environment.
Embryology compares embryos of various organisms to their adult forms. Very different animals can have similar embryo features, however, these are not the same organism and each organism is uniquely designed. Embryos often lose features in their adult form and this is the product of its intelligent design.
Biogeography is the geographic distribution of organisms on Earth in relation to tectonic plate movement. In other words, scientists believe that the Earth's landmasses are sitting on tectonic plates that move slowly over geologic time (millions of years). However, other scientist dispute these tectonic plate movements in terms of direction and rate, as some scientists believe that tectonic plates can move much quicker. Some scientists believe in earth expansion instead of plate tectonic movement. Many scientists also believe that all continental lands were once connected and were broken apart at some time later, which caused a change in the distribution of life across the newly separated continents. The distribution of organisms on earth is most likely the result of land bridges in the past that no longer exist, or the transport of organisms to new parts of the earth as humans traveled across the Earth on land and in water. Humans commonly carried animals with them when they travelled. Land bridges during the low sea level ice age would allow animals access to new lands before these land bridges became submerged as sea level rose and global temperatures warmed. As tectonic plates moved, some continental lands became isolated and unique animals are found there that are not found in other parts of the world. This isolation can also protect certain organisms from predators, allowing certain organisms to survive in a particular isolated land that cannot exist in other lands where there are more predators. So biogeography is not really a proof of evolution, as tectonic plate movement or separation and sea level rise and fall could have happened over much shorter time frames than evolutionists claim.
In molecular biology, similar structures and processes in DNA, biomolecules, proteins, genes, ribosomes, membranes, and cellular structures in different organisms is claimed to be a proof of evolution. However, just like homology, the similarity of biomolecules does not necessarily imply evolution, but rather a common design by the same intelligent designer.
When scientists refer to evolution, they are often referring to genetic variation and natural selection, which are concepts that intelligent design advocates and creationists also support. The disagreement is simply over macroevolution, such as molecule to man or the claimed transition from one species to another species that has never been observed. Evolutionists overlap and combine macroevolution with genetic variation and natural selection, and therefore creationists and ID proponents do accept parts of this theory, but not the entire macroevolution over claimed millions of years.
Evolution theory cannot explain the origin of life and the origin of the first cells and DNA material. Despite the ongoing quest to do this, scientists have not been able to explain the origin of the first living cell and first cellular material. The explanation of the origin of life may be beyond the scope of science. Therefore, evolution theory can only explain the changes that are observed with existing life through natural selection and genetic variation.
A species is a group of individual organisms that can interbreed and produce fertile, viable offspring. Species are different when mating and producing offspring is impossible.
A hybrid species is a cross between two species that are not similar and likely not be able to reproduce.
Speciation is the formation of two species from one original species, according to evolutionists theory. However, this speciation process is not proof of evolution. In addition, speciation would be the opposite of evolution, as it causes less genetic variability as species that were once able to mate are no longer able to mate and produce offspring. Creationists believe in Rapid Speciation that causes new and unique species with a relatively short period of time within a few thousand years. That is why we have so many species today within a relatively short period of time of a few thousand years. However many new species arise, new kinds are never formed or made, so that each new species is a variation of the original kind of the organism.
Allopatric speciation involves geographic separation of populations from a parent species and subsequent evolution. Sympatric speciation involves speciation that occurs within a parent species remaining in one location. Allopatric processes occur in two categories: Dispersal is when a few members of a species move to a new geographical area, and vicariance is when a natural situation arises to physically divide organisms.
Adaptive radiation is when a population of one species disperses throughout an area, and each finds a distinct niche or isolated habitat. Over time, the varied demands of their new lifestyles lead to multiple speciation events originating from a single species, so that many adaptations originate from a single point of origin, causing the species to radiate into several new species.
Polyploidy is a condition in which a cell or organism has an extra set or sets of chromosomes, which can lead to reproductive isolation. Autopolyploidy is when a polyploid individual organism has two or more complete sets of chromosomes from its own species. Another form of polyploidy is allopolyploidy, when individuals of two different species reproduce to form a viable offspring. Polyploidy occurs most commonly in plants and occasionally in animals.
Reproductive isolation prevents different species from breeding, causing sterility. Reproductive isolation occurs as a prezygotic barrier or postzygotic barriers. A prezygotic barrier is a mechanism that blocks reproduction from taking place and includes barriers that prevent fertilization when organisms attempt reproduction. A postzygotic barrier occurs after zygote formation and includes organisms that don’t survive the embryonic stage and those that are born sterile.
Temporal isolation is when there are differences in breeding schedules between species, limiting breeding. Habitat isolation is a type of reproductive barrier that occurs when two species live in different habitats and are unable to mate, even if they are in the same geographical area. Behavioral isolation is when a reproductive barrier that prevents species from interbreeding due to differences in behavior. A gametic barrier is a reproductive isolation mechanism that prevents sperm from fertilizing eggs of another species because of differences in gamete cells prevent fertilization.
Hybrid inviability is when a reproductive barrier that prevents the offspring of two different species from developing into healthy adults. It is a post-zygotic barrier, meaning it occurs after mating species have overcome pre-zygotic barriers to produce a zygote. Hybrid sterility is another postzygotic situation where reproduction leads to hybrid birth and growth that is sterile.
Sympatric speciation may also occur because of habitat influence where part of a species move to a different location with a different habitat and eventually become a unique species through reproductive cycles, as the species in the new location would begin to develop genetic differences from the original group.
Reconnection is when two species that have undergone speciation recombine into one species. This can happen when the reproductive barriers between the two species weaken, or if the hybrids produced by the two species are as fit or more fit than the parents. A hybrid zone is an area where two closely related species continue to interact and reproduce, forming hybrids.
Reinforcement is when hybrids tend to be less fit than their parents, therefore, such reproduction diminishes over time, nudging the two species to diverge further.
Rates of speciation can vary. In the gradual speciation model, species diverge gradually over time in small steps (uniformitarianism or gradualism). In the punctuated equilibrium model, a new species undergoes changes quickly from the parent species, and then remains largely unchanged for long periods of time afterward. The punctuated equilibrium model suggests a faster tempo of speciation, and therefore questions the principles of gradualism and reinforces evidence for a young-earth creation model.
The primary influencing factor of speciation rate is environmental conditions, when a portion of a species are isolated into new environmental conditions and begin to form a new species.
The theory of evolution by natural selection attempts to describe a mechanism of how living species change over time. The theory of evolution is a rejection that life was created suddenly in mature form during a creation event by an Intelligent Designer, most commonly known as a creator God.
Work by naturalists James Hutton and Charles Lyell concluded that the formation and history of the earth contained slow and gradual change over long periods of time.
Two naturalists, Charles Darwin and Alfred Wallace, independently proposed through observation of nature that evolution of living species occurs by way of a mechanism known as natural selection.
Natural selection is the survival of the fittest organisms, or a more prolific reproduction of individuals with favorable traits that survive environmental change because of those traits, which leads to evolutionary change in favor of those favorable traits.
However, this natural selection has only been observed at the microlevel, where organisms become adapted to their environment. One species has never been observed to evolve into another species.
Variation: Natural selection can only take place if there is variation among individual organisms in a population. Genetic diversity in a population comes from two main mechanisms: mutation and sexual reproduction.
A mutation is a change in DNA and is the ultimate source of alleles or new genetic variation in any population. Sexual reproduction also leads to genetic variation as alleles combine to produce unique combinations of genotypes and phenotypes in each offspring.
An adaptation is a heritable trait that helps an organism's survival and reproduction in its present environment. When environmental change occurs, sometimes organisms cannot adapt and become extinct.
Divergent evolution is when two species evolve in diverse directions from a common point, according to evolutionist theory. However, the differences in organisms with much similarity is caused by genetic variation. Species are always the same species while changes in size, color, hair texture and other genetic variations are common.
Convergent evolution is used to explain when similar traits appear in different species, such as wings in bats and insects. However, these are two very different species and are each a product of a unique intelligent design. There is no evolutionary linkage other than a common intelligent designer style.
Evolutionists claim that divergent and convergent evolution occur over large amounts of time in the millions of years that cannot be observed or proved to have occurred. We can only observe a unique intelligent design in all living organisms and their "proposed evolution" over millions of years cannot be observed or confirmed.
Claims of proof of evolution theory by proponents of evolution include the existence of fossils found inside sedimentary rock layers. However, these rock layers that are claimed to have been formed millions of years apart are actually the product of a single flooding event, where all of the rock layers are formed during a single event. Therefore, these fossils found in each rock layer are not thousands or millions of years apart but rather are buried from a single flooding event.
Another claimed proof of evolution theory is the presence of homologous structures, or similar anatomy and embryology in different species of organisms. However, these homologous structures are not proof of evolution over millions of years, but rather, are the similar style in intelligent design.
Vestigial structures are body parts that seem to have no function, and evolutionist theory proponents claim that these structures are leftovers from evolutionary processes. However, new and current research has discovered that each of these vestigial parts actually do have a function that was unknown in the past.
When different types of organisms that live in the same environment share a convergence of form, such that similar features are present in that environment, evolutionist theorists claim an evidence of evolution theory. However, these features are traits that are part of their intelligent design. For example, different animals living in the arctic environments tend to have white fur, which helps in hiding from predators. This development of similar features of different animals actually could be an evidence against evolution and an evidence for intelligent design, where all animals are intelligently designed to adapt to their environment, or are designed specifically for their environment.
Embryology compares embryos of various organisms to their adult forms. Very different animals can have similar embryo features, however, these are not the same organism and each organism is uniquely designed. Embryos often lose features in their adult form and this is the product of its intelligent design.
Biogeography is the geographic distribution of organisms on Earth in relation to tectonic plate movement. In other words, scientists believe that the Earth's landmasses are sitting on tectonic plates that move slowly over geologic time (millions of years). However, other scientist dispute these tectonic plate movements in terms of direction and rate, as some scientists believe that tectonic plates can move much quicker. Some scientists believe in earth expansion instead of plate tectonic movement. Many scientists also believe that all continental lands were once connected and were broken apart at some time later, which caused a change in the distribution of life across the newly separated continents. The distribution of organisms on earth is most likely the result of land bridges in the past that no longer exist, or the transport of organisms to new parts of the earth as humans traveled across the Earth on land and in water. Humans commonly carried animals with them when they travelled. Land bridges during the low sea level ice age would allow animals access to new lands before these land bridges became submerged as sea level rose and global temperatures warmed. As tectonic plates moved, some continental lands became isolated and unique animals are found there that are not found in other parts of the world. This isolation can also protect certain organisms from predators, allowing certain organisms to survive in a particular isolated land that cannot exist in other lands where there are more predators. So biogeography is not really a proof of evolution, as tectonic plate movement or separation and sea level rise and fall could have happened over much shorter time frames than evolutionists claim.
In molecular biology, similar structures and processes in DNA, biomolecules, proteins, genes, ribosomes, membranes, and cellular structures in different organisms is claimed to be a proof of evolution. However, just like homology, the similarity of biomolecules does not necessarily imply evolution, but rather a common design by the same intelligent designer.
When scientists refer to evolution, they are often referring to genetic variation and natural selection, which are concepts that intelligent design advocates and creationists also support. The disagreement is simply over macroevolution, such as molecule to man or the claimed transition from one species to another species that has never been observed. Evolutionists overlap and combine macroevolution with genetic variation and natural selection, and therefore creationists and ID proponents do accept parts of this theory, but not the entire macroevolution over claimed millions of years.
Evolution theory cannot explain the origin of life and the origin of the first cells and DNA material. Despite the ongoing quest to do this, scientists have not been able to explain the origin of the first living cell and first cellular material. The explanation of the origin of life may be beyond the scope of science. Therefore, evolution theory can only explain the changes that are observed with existing life through natural selection and genetic variation.
A species is a group of individual organisms that can interbreed and produce fertile, viable offspring. Species are different when mating and producing offspring is impossible.
A hybrid species is a cross between two species that are not similar and likely not be able to reproduce.
Speciation is the formation of two species from one original species, according to evolutionists theory. However, this speciation process is not proof of evolution. In addition, speciation would be the opposite of evolution, as it causes less genetic variability as species that were once able to mate are no longer able to mate and produce offspring. Creationists believe in Rapid Speciation that causes new and unique species with a relatively short period of time within a few thousand years. That is why we have so many species today within a relatively short period of time of a few thousand years. However many new species arise, new kinds are never formed or made, so that each new species is a variation of the original kind of the organism.
Allopatric speciation involves geographic separation of populations from a parent species and subsequent evolution. Sympatric speciation involves speciation that occurs within a parent species remaining in one location. Allopatric processes occur in two categories: Dispersal is when a few members of a species move to a new geographical area, and vicariance is when a natural situation arises to physically divide organisms.
Adaptive radiation is when a population of one species disperses throughout an area, and each finds a distinct niche or isolated habitat. Over time, the varied demands of their new lifestyles lead to multiple speciation events originating from a single species, so that many adaptations originate from a single point of origin, causing the species to radiate into several new species.
Polyploidy is a condition in which a cell or organism has an extra set or sets of chromosomes, which can lead to reproductive isolation. Autopolyploidy is when a polyploid individual organism has two or more complete sets of chromosomes from its own species. Another form of polyploidy is allopolyploidy, when individuals of two different species reproduce to form a viable offspring. Polyploidy occurs most commonly in plants and occasionally in animals.
Reproductive isolation prevents different species from breeding, causing sterility. Reproductive isolation occurs as a prezygotic barrier or postzygotic barriers. A prezygotic barrier is a mechanism that blocks reproduction from taking place and includes barriers that prevent fertilization when organisms attempt reproduction. A postzygotic barrier occurs after zygote formation and includes organisms that don’t survive the embryonic stage and those that are born sterile.
Temporal isolation is when there are differences in breeding schedules between species, limiting breeding. Habitat isolation is a type of reproductive barrier that occurs when two species live in different habitats and are unable to mate, even if they are in the same geographical area. Behavioral isolation is when a reproductive barrier that prevents species from interbreeding due to differences in behavior. A gametic barrier is a reproductive isolation mechanism that prevents sperm from fertilizing eggs of another species because of differences in gamete cells prevent fertilization.
Hybrid inviability is when a reproductive barrier that prevents the offspring of two different species from developing into healthy adults. It is a post-zygotic barrier, meaning it occurs after mating species have overcome pre-zygotic barriers to produce a zygote. Hybrid sterility is another postzygotic situation where reproduction leads to hybrid birth and growth that is sterile.
Sympatric speciation may also occur because of habitat influence where part of a species move to a different location with a different habitat and eventually become a unique species through reproductive cycles, as the species in the new location would begin to develop genetic differences from the original group.
Reconnection is when two species that have undergone speciation recombine into one species. This can happen when the reproductive barriers between the two species weaken, or if the hybrids produced by the two species are as fit or more fit than the parents. A hybrid zone is an area where two closely related species continue to interact and reproduce, forming hybrids.
Reinforcement is when hybrids tend to be less fit than their parents, therefore, such reproduction diminishes over time, nudging the two species to diverge further.
Rates of speciation can vary. In the gradual speciation model, species diverge gradually over time in small steps (uniformitarianism or gradualism). In the punctuated equilibrium model, a new species undergoes changes quickly from the parent species, and then remains largely unchanged for long periods of time afterward. The punctuated equilibrium model suggests a faster tempo of speciation, and therefore questions the principles of gradualism and reinforces evidence for a young-earth creation model.
The primary influencing factor of speciation rate is environmental conditions, when a portion of a species are isolated into new environmental conditions and begin to form a new species.