Microevolution is a shibboleth of creationists who are fighting a rearguard action against evolution theory. They claim that animals are divided into 'kinds', which are distinct artefacts of divine creation, and evolution only takes place within each kind. Use of this theory is usually accompanied by a complete misunderstanding of the evolutionary timescale in order to accomodate Noah's Ark. Macroevolution, as the fundamentalists label classic evolutionary theory, is, they say, a lie.



jmc: The flaw in your logic is obvious, I'm afraid. You're (1) arguing from unfounded axioms and (2) assuming your result.

Aim: ... compelling proof ... that microevolution cannot actually create new species...

Axiom: The process of microevolution can only result in changes within a species. Therefore...

Of course, the real problem lies in the assumption that species are discrete entities. To assume so is to deny the existence of speciation at all, which immediately implies that all extant species have existed in some form at all times in history, and that any extinct species either also so existed, or are in fact parts of extant species. Either that, or it is possible in a single generation for the 'speciesness' of a population to change, which is not borne out in fact.