Fossils can't show evolution happening now
- The idea
- Predict
- See it
- Why
- Check
The idea
“Fossils and shared bones prove evolution, so they show it's still going on today.”
Fossils and shared bones are the famous evidence for evolution, so they feel like a safe pick. They record change that ended long ago.
The short version
The mistake: Fossils and shared bones prove evolution, so they show it's still going on today.
What's actually true: Fossils and homology show change that already happened. Evolution now is a heritable trait shifting in a living population.
- Evolution is a change in allele frequencies in a population over generations. To see it now, measure a living population more than once.
- Fossils, homologous structures and shared DNA are strong evidence for common ancestry. They show what already happened.
On the exam: Evolving now means a living population changing across generations. Fossils and shared traits show the past.