Why does evolution matter?

[Toastiness]

nope.
dogs can mate with dogs.
but they have a common ancestor with cats.
Dont misunderstand me, I do believe in the theory and I thinks its the best explanation we have got. But the facts are thin on the ground

Eh ?
Evolution relies on natural selection, not cross species breeding or hybridization.

[EternalOptimist]

Eh ?
Evolution relies on natural selection, not cross species breeding or hybridization.

thats right. and new species can not mate with the old species.
therefore different dogs are not a new species, just different breeds.

dogs shared a common ancestor with cats but they can't mate with them, so they are a different species.

What I am saying, is that we have never witnessed this, so its a theory , as opposed to a proven fact

[MyUserName]

thats right. and new species can not mate with the old species.
therefore different dogs are not a new species, just different breeds.

dogs shared a common ancestor with cats but they can't mate with them, so they are a different species.

What I am saying, is that we have never witnessed this, so its a theory , as opposed to a proven fact

It has been witnessed a lot, try googling "Examples of Speciation"

Although I was under the impression that evolution was a fact, we know things change over time and can prove it conclusively. How it works is the theory (natural selection etc).
Rather like the differences between the law of gravity and theory of gravity?

Have a listen to AronRa on YouTube for a good explanation of the subject.

[NotAllThere]

It has been witnessed a lot, try googling "Examples of Speciation"...

It's even gone the other way, where species diverged and couldn't interbreed, then were able to. Not so much an evolutionary tree, but an evolutionary net.

Part of the problem is that even terms like "species" are debatable without a complete consensus of the definition.

[pjclarke]

It's even gone the other way, where species diverged and couldn't interbreed, then were able to. Not so much an evolutionary tree, but an evolutionary net.

Part of the problem is that even terms like "species" are debatable without a complete consensus of the definition.

Yep, I bloody love science, me.

Two Butterfly Species Evolved Into Third, Study Finds

[EternalOptimist]

It's even gone the other way, where species diverged and couldn't interbreed, then were able to. Not so much an evolutionary tree, but an evolutionary net.

Part of the problem is that even terms like "species" are debatable without a complete consensus of the definition.

All the examples I have seen are 'a different type of dog', 'a different type of bacteria', 'a different type of goatsbeard plant'

which is fair enough, but we never have seen a mouse come from a dog.

[SpontaneousOrder]

All the examples I have seen are 'a different type of dog', 'a different type of bacteria', 'a different type of goatsbeard plant'

which is fair enough, but we never have seen a mouse come from a dog.

Maybe it's just for the same reasons that we never see Monday become Tuesday. At some point some sub-species of dog may be seen as distinct from the original dog - but you have to compare them in a wide enough scope. Just like you have to look from a wide enough perspective to see Monday become Tuesday.

[Eirikur]

All the examples I have seen are 'a different type of dog', 'a different type of bacteria', 'a different type of goatsbeard plant'

which is fair enough, but we never have seen a mouse come from a dog.

If you wait 5 - 10 million years you will see something like that happening.

[Pondlife]

All the examples I have seen are 'a different type of dog', 'a different type of bacteria', 'a different type of goatsbeard plant'

which is fair enough, but we never have seen a mouse come from a dog.

But in your earlier post, cat and dog (different species/can't breed) share the same ancestor.

That ancestor was some four legged carnivorous mammal that wasn't a cat or a dog reproducing with another of the another of the same species to produce an offspring that liked chasing after sticks and two others elsewhere producing an offspring that liked to lie on the most inconvenient place and act aloof.

Then after years of interbreeding at the I like sticks club you get this four legged stick loving creature that want's absolutely nothing to do with the ridiculously aloof curtain sleepers.

[NotAllThere]

All the examples I have seen are 'a different type of dog', 'a different type of bacteria', 'a different type of goatsbeard plant'

which is fair enough, but we never have seen a mouse come from a dog.

That's because evolution is a fairy tale, invented by atheists to scare their children away from religion. Also, the scientific method is just humanity's futile attempt to overlay a veneer of sanity, order and meaning onto an a-teleological, chaotic and hostile universe.