Page 183 - The Evolution Impasse 1
P. 183
181
to regulate its characteristics within cer- the number of light-colored moths decli-
tain bounds, according to changes in the ned, the dark-colored ones increased be-
surroundings. Otherwise, even minor cause they were less visible.
changes in climate or food sources wo- Evolutionists resort to the misleading
uld spell the species’ death. claim that this process represents major
Many living things such as mam- evidence for evolution and that those
moths, dinosaurs, and flying reptiles have lighter-colored moths gradually “evol-
become extinct due to sudden environ- ved” into darker ones.
mental or climatic changes). These life The fact is, though, this example
forms disappeared when they were unab- cannot stand as evidence for evolution.
le to adapt to environmental conditions The natural selection that took place did
exceeding the limits of the genetic poten- not give rise to the emergence of any
tial they possessed when they were crea- new species that did not exist before.
ted. However, there is no scientific evi- Black individuals already existed in the
dence that these turned into other species. pre-Industrial Revolution population.
All that changed was the characteristics
of a species that already existed. Moths
Peppered moths, the acquired no new organs or characteris-
Douglas Futuyma’s 1986 book Evo- tics that would lead to species change.
lutionary Biology, is regarded as a refe- Whereas in order for a moth to turn into
rence that most clearly explains the the- another distinct species, countless chan-
ory of natural selection. The best-known ges, additions and subtractions would
of the examples cited by Futuyma is the have to occur in its genes. To put it anot-
darkening of the color of a moth popula- her way, a whole new genetic program
tion in Great Britain during the Industri- containing the physical characteristics of
al Revolution. a new species would have to be loaded
Before the Industrial Revolution be- onto the moth.
gan, the bark of trees in the Manchester Contrary to the impression evolutio-
area was light in color. Therefore, any nists seek to give, it is impossible for na-
dark-colored melanic moths landing on tural selection to add or remove any or-
these trees were easily detected by birds gan from a living thing, and for that spe-
and thus had little chance of survival. cies to turn into another one. The stron-
Fifty years of pollution later, however, gest evidence on this subject since Dar-
the bark grew darker, after the death of win’s time is the tale of the peppered
the light-colored lichens on the trees, moths in Britain.
and now the lighter-colored moths fell Yet there is an even more noteworthy
prey to birds more often. As a result, as aspect to the evolutionist “example” of
Harun Yahya (Adnan Oktar)