Re: No, it didn't.

Correct. The evidence we have now does not support Darwinian evolution.

That's not to say, however, that there isn't an evolutionary process. Something is causing the sudden appearance of new species after extinction events, and some suggest that it's these extinction events which somehow trigger evolution to occur.

As for whether or not a transition species would be recognizable... botanists and naturalists and other "categorizing scientists" have been disagreeing about what makes one plant or animal a different "species" from another plant or animal for centuries. Recall, however, that Darwin spoke in terms of gradual changes. In other words, it wouldn't be the case that offspring would appear completely different from the parents (making it pretty obvious); instead, it would be a gradual thing (at least according to Darwin). Perhaps it would or wouldn't be recognized. Since recognition is the basis for all of our classification systems, however, if it looks like a duck, and quacks like a duck, and swims like a duck... it's probably still a duck.