Page 121 - Commonly Disregarded Qur'anic Rulings

Harun Yahya (Adnan Oktar) 119

Natural selection holds that those living things that are
stronger and more suited to the natural conditions of their
habitats will survive in the struggle for life. For example, in a
deer herd under the threat of attack by wild animals, those
that can run faster will survive. Therefore, the deer herd will
be comprised of faster and stronger individuals. However,
unquestionably, this mechanism will not cause deer to evolve
and transform themselves into another living species, for
instance, horses.

Therefore, the mechanism of natural selection has
no evolutionary power. Darwin was also aware of this
fact and had to state this in his book The Origin of Species:
Natural selection can do nothing until favourable individ-
ual differences or variations occur. 7

Lamarck's Impact

So, how could these "favorable variations" occur? Darwin
tried to answer this question from the standpoint of the prim-
itive understanding of science at that time. According to the
French biologist Chevalier de Lamarck (1744-1829), who
lived before Darwin, living creatures passed on the traits they
acquired during their lifetime to the next generation. He
asserted that these traits, which accumulated from one gen-
eration to another, caused new species to be formed. For
instance, he claimed that giraffes evolved from antelopes; as
they struggled to eat the leaves of high trees, their necks were
extended from generation to generation.
Darwin also gave similar examples. In his book The Origin