WHY DO SCIENTISTS DEBATE EVOLUTION AMONG THEMSELVES?
A question often raised by creationists is “why, if the evidence for evolution is so sound, do scientists continue to debate it among themselves”? The answer is that scientists do not debate whether or not evolution occurs, because the strength of this evidence is overwhelming. Debate generally centers, instead, on topics such as those listed below. • mechanisms that have driven evolution • the time course of various evolutionary events • specific ancestor for an organism or group of organisms a. Mechanisms that have driven evolution As one example of the kind of debate on evolution that occurs among scientists, examine briefly possible mechanisms that may operate to drive evolution. Darwin proposed that the driving mechanism for evolutionary change was natural selection. Basically, Darwin observed that variations occur within a species and that more offspring are produced than survive to reproduce. He proposed that individuals bearing variations that prove to be beneficial (adaptive)
