The
Galapagos . . . a group of beautiful islands roughly 650
miles off the western coast of South America.
Volcanic in origin, they have been a main attraction to
the scientific community for hundreds of years.
Why? Simply put, the wildlife. Inhabitants
of this isolated world include numerous species found
only in the archipelago and different subspecies on
separate islands. In a popular episode of the Jeff
Corwin Experience, Jeff visited this "land
that time forgot," and throughout the entire show
spoke of Charles Darwin, evolution, and the adaptation
of species. Were his statements, evaluations, and
observations correct? Let us, if possible, take a
fair and balanced look.
At
the forefront of Corwin's evidence for evolution were
the varieties (or species) of iguanas. From
differences in color to differences in size and
body-shape, the Galapagos is home to a plethora of these
fantastic reptiles. 
ARE
THEY, HOWEVER, EVIDENCE FOR EVOLUTION? The
simple answer: No.
New information is not being created in the gene
pool; these are simply built-in adaptations
already present. Is it possible for any of these
species' to sprout wings? Absolutely not.
Why? Because the information isn't there.
One cannot spell L I Z A R D with the letters B
I R D simply because the correct letters don't
exist. This is the fatal flaw of Macro-Evolution,
the evolving of one kind of animal to another (i.e.
lizard to bird). It has never been observed, isn't
happening today, and didn't happen in
history. Let
us, however, give Corwin the benefit of the doubt.
Let us, for the present time, pretend that the speciation of
the iguanas of the Galapagos is indeed proof of
evolution. What, in a nutshell, do we therefore
observe happening? A
lizard becoming a lizard. Earth-shattering. Sarcasm
aside, what Jeff Corwin is doing is highlighting
adaptations, not the progression of species with new
information being created. Furthermore, these
changes among the iguanas can happen in a very short
period of time, not "millions" of years. Headlines
in January of 2001 beautifully portray this reality.
"
- Galapagos
iguanas shrink to survive El Niņo - "
Scientists
have discovered that iguanas on Ecuador's Galapagos
Islands shrink to survive a shortage of food during El
Niņo, according to a report in Thursday's issue of Nature.
In two
studies of Galapagos marine iguanas, one spanning 18
years and the other occupying eight years, scientists
found that the herbivorous reptiles shrank as much as
2.7 inches, or 20 percent of their body length.
"Many
people working with amphibians have seen this phenomenon
but have not reported it because they don't believe it,
or because the thinking is that vertebrates can't
shrink," said Judy Stamps, a professor of
evolution and ecology at the University of California at
Davis.
When
forced by environmental pressures to adapt, animals do
so quickly, but within genetic limits. If the
climate of the Galapagos were to reach freezing, for
instance, the iguanas could not grow fur in order to
survive. Rather, they would soon die. It
is this fine border between Micro-evolution and
Macro-evolution that evolutionists commonly cross.
Adaptations have nothing to do with evolution . . .
indeed, they are polar opposites. Though we
believe Jeff Corwin means well, he is in error when
using various species of iguanas as proof of evolution.
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