Evidence for evolution

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George1

Registered Senior Member
Nylon-eating bacteria-
discovered in 2006-2007, the bacteria is a strain of Flavobacterium. it eats NYLON. certain byproducts of nylon 6 manufacture. considering nylon as a very recent synthetic material, appear in 1935, the bacteria is obviously new to the earth. nylon dose not appear in nature, and therefore this bacteria had to appear recently.
evolution of certain bios takes time, however bacterias can evolve fairy quick. i for one consider this as more than enough proof that evolution is real, adding up to the mountains of evidence that already exists to support it.

bring in other evidence and discuss them.
 
there is no doubt that, given an infinite world and an infinite amount of time, anything is possible.

The real world isnt infinite but bacteria are so small and exist is such large numbers and reproduce so quickly that

it is hardly surprising that they can and do evolve. Yet for 4 billion years they didnt evolve much.


the real mystery of evolution is the rapid evolution of very complex structures in the last 500 million years beginning suddenly with the cambrian explosion.

This rapid evolution occurred despite the fact that complex multicellular organisms exist in far fewer numbers and reproduce much more slowly


Factor in puctuated equilibrium and you have an awful lot of evolution occurring in a very short period of time.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Punctuated_equilibrium
 
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bacteria are so small and exist is such large numbers and reproduce so quickly that

it is hardly surprising that they can and do evolve. Yet for 4 billion years they didnt evolve much.
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Say what?

Just one: they adapted to an atmosphere full of oxygen. Tens of thousands of different kinds of bacteria now live comfortably in atmospheric oxygen concentrations upwards of 20%.
 
Mod note: Asinine evolution denialist comments (and associated replies) have been, and will be, moved to the appropriate thread. This is a science forum for scientific discussions.
 
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Mod note: I have changed the title of this thread from "Proof of evolution" to "Evidence for evolution".

It is important to be precise with our language. There is no proof of the Theory of Evolution, or any other scientific theory for that matter. Mathematics has ‘proofs’ but that is not the same concept. A theory is the best framework that explains observed data. It must also have predictive capability in order to be called a ‘theory’. A theory is not the be-all-and-end-all of a given subject as it can be falsified if appropriate evidence is uncovered.

As such, there isn’t anything that “proves” the Theory of Evolution because there is still evidence to be collected and data to be analyzed. There is only evidence that supports it. Having said all that, there is a lot of solid evidence, so much so that it is IMO the best evidenced theory in all of science.
 
There are a lot of things I love, but none so much as Evolution by Natural Selection. I get to read far, far too little about it.

So, last week I bought "Why Evolution Is True" (and "The Greatest Show On Earth", but I haven't started the second one yet). One of the most interesting things I've wondered about was the evolution of mammary glands (which, oddly enough wasn't covered in detail in the first book). So I started digging and found these two interesting articles:

Thought those of you might find it interesting as well.

~String
 
They're modified sweat glands, right?

Most mammals don't use their sweat glands for cooling; panting and drooling is quite effective. They serve a variety of other purposes such as improving the traction of foot pads, excreting waste products, exuding pheromones, and preserving the skin's acid mantle to inhibit bacterial growth,
 
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I can see how they (mammary glands) would evolve in marsupials but its less clear in placentals
 
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Monotremes show us how primitive mammary glands would have evolved.

The section of DNA that is responsible for the mammary glands is also responsible for the development of sweat glands.

In Monotremes (platypus, et al) there are no "breasts" or "teats". There are glands that are over-developed sweat glands that simply "drip" the milk out on to the skin and hair. The young just lap it up.

The interesting thing is what the glands did for primitive mammals before live birth. It's believed that the primitive sweat/mammary glands leaked protective fluids onto the eggs that protected them from mold, infection, etc. When the young hatched, they injected the (you guessed it!) mucous (snot). It's an unattractive thought, but it's a core component of modern breast milk.

~String
 
Evolution, tonsils and adenoids

Are tonsils and adenoids proof of evolution?

There does not seem to be any strong consensus on what their role is. Are they a redundant by-product of evolution?
 
Long-Sought Fossil Mammal With Transitional Middle Ear

Paleontologists from the American Museum of Natural History and the Chinese Academy of Sciences announce the discovery of Liaoconodon hui, a complete fossil mammal from the Mesozoic found in China that includes the long-sought transitional middle ear. The specimen shows the bones associated with hearing in mammals -- the malleus, incus, and ectotympanic -- decoupled from the lower jaw, as had been predicted, but were held in place by an ossified cartilage that rested in a groove on the lower jaw. The new research, published in Nature this week, also suggests that the middle ear evolved at least twice in mammals, for monotremes and for the marsupial-placental group.
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The new fossil described this week, Liaoconodon hui, fills the gap in knowledge between the basal, early mammaliaforms like Morganucodon, where the middle ear bones are part of the mandible and the definitive middle ear of living and fossil mammals.
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ScienceDaily (Apr. 17, 2011)

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Mod note:

Posts regarding the predictive ability of the ToE have been moved to a dedicated thread here.

Leopold99’s question re: abiogenesis, and the associated reply, have been moved here. You’re not bringing your incessant abiogenesis trolling here.
 
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