http://en.epochtimes.com/news/7-2-27/52141.html


Evolutionary changes in species occur suddenly, rather than through tiny gradual changes as suggested in Darwin's theory of evolution, researchers say.
Resistance to change means that evolution is more likely to occur in bursts triggered by extreme environmental conditions, says Jeffrey H. Schwartz, professor of anthropology at the University of Pittsburgh.
According to biologists, cells are protected by an army of proteins, making them very resistant to change. So, argues Professor Schwartz, the Darwinian idea that animals adapt to their environment through constant small mutations in their genes – "natural selection" – goes against basic cell biology. Only extreme stresses can overcome these defences and cause mutations in the cells.
The mutations may remain dormant for several generations before suddenly manifesting as a new feature.
The change may be just as likely to kill the organism as it is to help it, says Professor Schwartz, so it is not so much adapting to the environment, but being rocked by it.
Further evidence against gradual evolution, says Professor Schwartz, comes from the fossil record.
If organisms evolved slowly and continuously, you would expect to see this reflected in fossil finds. What is actually seen is large changes from one species to the next.
Most scientists explain this by saying that the "missing links" have not yet been discovered.
Professor Schwartz's Sudden Origin theory suggests there shouldn't be any missing links.
His theory could also explain how complex structures, such as eyes, could appear fully formed, rather than going through countless less developed precursors.
Professor Schwartz's most recent research, published in the journal Biological Theory , further challenges the Darwinian model by calling into question the ideas that underpin our understanding of when animals appeared and diversified.
In 1962 biochemists discovered the relative "relatedness" of several animals, including gorillas, chickens and fish, by testing their blood.
Finding the fish blood least similar to the other species they deduced that fish must have split off from the ancestral line further back in history than gorillas, which were most similar to humans.
Combined with the idea of gradual evolution, scientists use these tests to order animals into family trees and date when different branches "split off".
But if Professor Schwartz is right, and new species appear suddenly, all the dates may be wrong. What has surprised Professor Schwartz the most is that no one has challenged this idea before.
"The history of organic life is undemonstrable; we cannot prove a whole lot in evolutionary biology and our findings will always be hypothesis," he said. "There is one true evolutionary history of life and whether we will actually ever know it is not likely.
"Most importantly, we have to think about questioning underlying assumptions, whether we are dealing with molecules or anything else."