Re: Microevolution and Intelligent Design

Hi Drew...the finches are not an example of evolution (even the micro variety) because there is no mutation -- no genetic change. There must be genetic change in order to qualify as "evolution." More specifically, there must be a change in alleles.....but there is no such thing here. What is happening is the individual birds are being adapted by their mother's hormones during development. You can see a similar phenomenon here, (though not with beaks) whereby the mother finch alters her young in interesting ways, including speeding up development:


http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases...0918192456.htm


"Bird Moms Manipulate Birth Order To Protect Sons


When marauding mites turn up in a house finch's nest, she shelters her sons from the blood-suckers by laying male eggs later than those containing their sturdier sisters, according to new research....

....Once breeding female finches are exposed to mites, their bodies make hormonal changes that affect the order of egg laying and accelerates the development of their sons while they're still in the egg."


What has been perceived as "evolution" in the field is no such thing. And where genetic changes do happen, they happen within the individual as a response to an environmental change -- but ToE is not a theory of individual change, as they believe individuals are unintelligent and unable to do so.

But change does happen....one can call it "microevolution" if they want, but it does not meet the criteria of the theory of evolution, as this requires both random genetic change and natural selection. Tweet