On Sun, 14 Mar 2004 05:02:54 +0000 (UTC), 
Jeffrey Turner  wrote:
> Guy Hoelzer wrote:

[snip]

>> Hmmm.  I think it is safe to say that drift is causing evolution in 
>> every population all the time, including during speciation.
> 
> Define evolution without speciation and without adaptation.  If all 
> you mean is that as time passes, drift happens then I stand by my
> assertion that this is a biochemical rather than evolutionary process.

The minimal definition of evolution is "a change in the heritable
characteristices of a population over time." This does not require
speciation. The change can be due to random genetic drift or natural
selection or possibly other mechanisms. All scientists agree that it's
possible to have evolution without speciation and without adaptation.

This is the 21st century and this is sci.bio.evolution. We shouldn't
have to be explaining the scientific definition of evolution to 
people who post here. We shouldn't have to be defending random genetic
drift against those who would dismiss it as a mechanism of evolution.
Those sorts of things should be moved to talk.origins or some other
newsgroup that's intended for people who don't know much about 
evolution.



Larry Moran
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