Has Evolution Happened Before Our Eyes?

A recent example of this kind of thinking regards research on the eastern coyote or the “coywolf,” a hybrid of wolf, coyote, and dog. Researchers claim that this is a new species “evolving before scientists’ eyes in the eastern United States.” Well, let’s start by separating the observational science from the unsubstantiated historical science and evolutionary assumptions.

Research shows that, due to a lack of mating options, wolves, coyotes, and dogs are breeding together. This has created a highly successful hybrid that is able to survive even in urban centers. This is the observational science. From this, the researchers jump to the conclusion that this “amazing contemporary evolution story [is] happening right underneath our nose.”

But this conclusion doesn’t support the idea that one kind of animal has turned into a totally different kind! Wolves, coyotes, and dogs are all dogs. So it’s no surprise that they can breed with one another and produce a hybrid. Though not expected to occur frequently in an evolutionary view, it is exactly what we should expect, starting with God’s Word! Dogs breeding with dogs to produce dogs has nothing to do with biological evolution!

The article goes on to state,

Not all researchers agree the animal is a distinct species, arguing that one species does not interbreed with another—although the hybrid’s existence raises the question of whether wolves and coyotes are distinct species in the first place.

But scientists who have studied the animal say the mixing of genes has been much faster, extensive and transformational than anyone had noticed until fairly recently.

Recent studies are continually questioning our distinction of “species,” and this is because “species” is a man-made term based on a man-made classification system. In Genesis, God tells us that He created organisms to reproduce “according to their kinds” (the Hebrew word min). This phrase is repeated over and over in Genesis 1. According to creation researchers, “kind” is, in most instances, at the level of “family” in modern classification and sometimes even order. And—no surprise!—research is increasingly showing that animals can breed together and reproduce within a biblical kind but never outside of a kind. Research always confirms God’s Word!

What researchers are observing isn’t evolution—dogs remain dogs. What they are seeing is animals reproducing according to their kind, just as we’d expect according to Genesis.

Thanks for stopping by and thanks for praying,
Ken

This item was written with the assistance of AiG’s research team.