Creationism vs. Evolution: Key Concepts & Evidence

Creationism vs. Evolution: Key Concepts

Creationism: A religious belief according to which the cosmos, universe, and all living beings were created by a divine creator. Creationism was widely accepted until the late 19th century and still has followers today.

Evolution: The theory that species constantly change, giving rise to new species. Current species are the result of the evolution of previous ones.

Key Principles of Evolution

• Variability of Species: Individuals within a species are not identical but show variations that are transmitted to their offspring.
• Natural Selection: As populations increase, resources become limited, leading to competition. Individuals better adapted to their environment survive and reproduce more successfully, while poorly adapted individuals die or have fewer offspring.
• Evolution is a progressive accumulation of small changes.

Other Important Concepts

Extinction: The disappearance of a species when the last individuals are no longer able to reproduce.

Radiation: A rapid process of speciation and differentiation from an ancestral group into numerous species and lineages.

Evidence Supporting Evolution

Biogeographic Evidence

When continents were united, such as South America and Africa, the fossil record shows they shared the same fauna. Even today, various animal species are related. The separation of continents caused the isolation of species and favored separate evolutionary processes from common ancestors.

Remote oceanic islands often exhibit unusual species diversity (e.g., the Galapagos Islands). Each island has species adapted to its specific characteristics, such as finches and turtles. This is explained by the evolution of each species on separate islands from a common ancestor.

Embryological and Cellular Evidence

Studying the early embryonic stages of animals reveals that embryos of different vertebrates are similar. These similarities disappear as they develop.

Molecular Evidence

The fact that all living beings are formed from the same types of molecules suggests a common origin. Comparing the amino acid sequences of proteins from different species shows that closely related species have more similar sequences.