Page 150 - Darwinism Refuted

DARWINISM REFUTED

The Misconception About Restricted Populations
The second concept stressed by the proponents of punctuated
equilibrium theory is that of "restricted populations." By this, they mean
that the emergence of new species comes about in communities containing
very small numbers of plants or animals. According to this claim, large
populations of animals show no evolutionary development and maintain
their "stasis." But small groups sometimes become separated from these
communities, and these "isolated" groups mate only amongst themselves.
(It is hypothesized that this usually stems from geographical conditions.)
Macromutations are supposed to be most effective within such small,
inbreeding groups, and that is how rapid "speciation" can take place.
But why do proponents of the punctuated equilibrium theory insist
so much on the concept of restricted populations? The reason is clear:
Their aim is try to provide an explanation for the absence of intermediate
forms in the fossil record.
However, scientific experiments and observations carried out in
recent years have revealed that being in a restricted population is not an
advantage for the theory of evolution from the genetic point of view, but
rather a disadvantage. Far from developing in such a way as to give rise
to new species, small populations give rise to serious genetic defects. The
reason for this is that in restricted populations individuals must
continually mate within a narrow genetic pool. For this reason, normally
heterozygous individuals become increasingly homozygous. This means
that defective genes which are normally recessive become dominant, with
the result that genetic defects and sickness increase within the
population. 179
In order to examine this matter, a 35-year study of a small, inbred
population of chickens was carried out. It was found that the individual
chickens became progressively weaker from the genetic point of view over
time. Their egg production fell from 100 to 80 percent of individuals, and
their fertility declined from 93 to 74 percent. But when chickens from other
regions were added to the population, this trend toward genetic
weakening was halted and even reversed. With the infusion of new genes
from outside the restricted group, eventually the indicators of the health
of the population returned to normal. 180
This and similar discoveries have clearly revealed that the claim by
the proponents of punctuated equilibrium theory that small populations
are the source of evolution has no scientific validity.

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