AbbyNormal

Thank you all for some fresh insight into this (and to Zadok001 for expertly rephrasing the question for me).
I've, somewhat accidentally (long story...) sparked a debate with an ID proponent who has invoked the argument that the earth simply isn't old enough for life to evolve as it has. At least, not without heavy intervention from everyone's favorite Invisible Friend. I just needed some info on research into rates of evolution, etc.
Thanks again.

Regards,
AbbyNormal

Principia

... and this is the perfect counter for the IDiot argument that the age of the universe and the age of the earth are irrelevant to ID. Hell, even Dumbski's own UPB is based on his "generous" estimate of the Universe's age.

[ December 19, 2002: Message edited by: Principia ]</p>

MrDarwin

Well, we know that several species, and even several genera, can evolve from a single common ancestor in the time it has taken for the Hawaiian islands to form. Depending on whether you're a YEC, an OEC, or a normal person, that is anywhere from less than 4,000 years (when the islands emerged above the flood waters) to several million years (when the first Hawaiian volcanos emerged from the ocean). For example, by creationist definitions the <a href="http://www.botany.hawaii.edu/faculty/carr/silversword.htm" target="_blank">Hawaiian Silversword Alliance</a> comprise a single "kind" whose members have originated strictly by "microevolution" from a single species that reached the islands at some point in the distant past.

There are many similar and well-documented cases of evolutionary radiations of groups of plants, insects, and other animals from single colonization events on these islands. Ironically, the YEC's who believe that all these island creatures and plants "microevolved" in just a few thousand years are proposing much faster rates of evolution than any evolutionary biologist believes.

[ December 19, 2002: Message edited by: MrDarwin ]</p>