And Now for the Phasmatidae

Posted on March 5, 2003 in Creatures Evolution & Creation

One argument that Creationists have lodged against the theory of Evolution is that no one has ever observed the evolution of a new species.

Not two hundred miles from where I am sitting now, Cristina Sandoval believes that she has caught two in the act! (See also Smithsonian.) One variety of walking stick lives on ceanothus; the other on chamise (that nasty greasewood which I rant about in the dry season).

As is usual in Science, the discovery upsets some currently held theories. Yes, they’ve changed their mind — slightly — again. Sandoval shows that mountain ranges and oceans need not divide the members of a species for change to occur. A few need only to eat a different food from their neighbors.

Exciting, isn’t it?