Evolution did happen

"Of course, I don't expect you to traipse through the woods looking for such, but I do expect you to find such an example online or wherever, or to confess that your belief in evolution is without proof." This is where you have gone completely wrong. If your claim that you read a lot about this topic is true, than you should know that it takes too long for a species to branch into another. Now, I can give you many examples of where two different species have split, but those would JUST be PICTURES, even though the practice of taxonomy can be traced back to actual observable fossils. Now, I did provide you with HOW speciation has occurred, but I guess you just want to dismiss that. One thing that I forgot to add, however, was that when the two different group's DNA becomes too different, the act of mating does not work. This is because of new courtship rituals among the other group. Also, the different group might not find the other attractive, which would cause problems with mate selection among the two groups. Now, since there is a barrier between them, evolution is still in place and at full force. Over many other generations the groups will become so different that they cannot mate, because their DNA just doesn't work together. However, animals that are in the same genus can sometimes mate ( for example, donkeys can mate with horses). But over an even longer period of time, since the two groups face different environments, the two species may become too different to mate (I can't stress this enough). So, there is an ever growing barrier between the two separate groups, which ultimately stops them from mating with one another. Over generations of not mating with the other group, the animals become too different to mate. (because animals find their same species attractive, usually) Also, since hybrid animals do exist, it shows that two different species can mate, because they both share a close common ancestor (their DNA make up isn't too different to make mating impossible). The ancestor, however, isn't gone, the ancestor's DNA lives within one of the two groups. Meaning, the split group that immigrated would be the different species from the ancestor, not the original whole group. Oh, there's really no need to be anal about everything, I'm trying to have a simple and fun debate (that's why I joined this site). "You quote: "The biologists reasoned that diversity in a particular ecosystem is a result of . . . ." Notice that these biologists already assume that evolution occurs and they are trying to explain some of its mechanisms." That's a funny sentence, they don't assume that evolution happens, it does. It's just a fact that the fittest animal survives and reproduces, that's all natural selection is. I've explained how two species can come from one perfectly now, and how the barrier of mating is made. Formation of five new species of cichlid fishes which formed since they were isolated less than 4000 years ago from the parent stock, Lake Nagubago. (Test for speciation in this case is by morphology and lack of natural interbreeding. These fish have complex mating rituals and different coloration. While it might be possible that different species are inter-fertile, they cannot be convinced to mate.) Mayr, E., 1970. Populations, Species, and Evolution, Massachusetts, Harvard University Press. p. 348 Rapid speciation of the Faeroe Island house mouse, which occurred in less than 250 years after man brought the creature to the island. (Test for speciation in this case is based on morphology. It is unlikely that forced breeding experiments have been performed with the parent stock.) Stanley, S., 1979. Macroevolution: Pattern and Process, San Francisco, W.H. Freeman and Company. p. 41 Even though the mice were introduced by man, the speciation occurred naturally. I'm incredibly sorry if you thought I was trying to avoid the lactose intolerance and the hemoglobin things. I just didn't want to waste the round by explaining all of that, I would rather jump to higher places than argue over simple occurrences. Of course I am not a master over the subject, I just enjoy reading about it. You get the last say, good debate.