Two sea stars evolved into independent species in extraordinarily little time, a genetic study indicates.
By examining differences in the genetic codes of two closely related “cushion stars,” researchers concluded ancestors of the two species stopped interbreeding as little as 6,000 years ago.
This qualifies as “one of the fastest known marine speciation events,” write the authors, referring to the creation of new species.
Cool… but science doesn’t prove anything…
Related articles
- Sea Stars Divide into 2 Species in an Evolutionary Flash (livescience.com)
- Rapid Evolution of Sea Stars into Two Different Species (naturenplanet.com)
- Rapid speciation discovered in Australian sea stars (retrieverman.wordpress.com)
- ScienceShot: Evolution in a Jiffy (news.sciencemag.org)
- Superfast evolution in sea stars (sciencedaily.com)
As far as I can see there was no mention of evolution having stopped so I expect you were simply making a political point. I feel sure most major evolutionary steps occur due to dramatic DNA changes where the result is viable.
Indeed I was being humorous.. 😉