Page 129 - The Errors the American National Academy of Sciences

n the chapter entitled "The Distribution
I of Species," the NAS portrays the subject of

I biogeography, which is still the topic of much
debate amongst evolutionists, as evidence of evolution
(Science and Creationism, p. 15). The NAS's views on this subject
are summed up in these words:

And why are island groups like the Galápagos so often inhabited by
forms similar to those on the nearest mainland but belonging to differ-
ent species? Evolutionary theory explains that biological diversity re-
sults from the descendants of local or migrant predecessors becoming
adapted to their diverse environments. This explanation can be tested by
examining present species and local fossils to see whether they have sim-
ilar structures, which would indicate how one is derived from the other.
Also, there should be evidence that species without an established local
ancestry had migrated into the locality.
Let us examine the NAS's account. According to the NAS, liv-
ing things on islands such as Hawaii or Galápagos, which are sur-
rounded by vast reaches of ocean, either evolved from other
living things in the region or else in some way evolved from
"migrant predecessors" that came to the islands. There is a ge-
ographical obstacle between these islands and other land
masses. For that reason, these living things adapt to the

features of a particular region and acquire specific
features. As we have already seen, this is what
biologists call "microevolution"—that is,
variation, in which an organ does
not acquire new genetic in-