Has natural selection really been tested and verified?

I read recently where an editor of Discovery Magazine stated that Darwin provided a testable mechanism for evolutionary change, and as such it has stood up to the rigors of such testing.I am not so sure that this is true. Can people point to tests that have verified that natural selection causes evolutionary change? What tests have they conducted? Do these tests accurately mimic the real world?I would like to stipulate that talking about bacteria (in any form) does not qualify as any type of test, because ultimately we must be taking sexual reproduction, where choices are being made into account-so bacteria is out.Ok, so what are these tests which prove (or even provide solid evidence for) natural selection is the driver of evolutionary change?Edited by Bolder-dash, : No reason given.

Hi Bolder-dash and welcome to EvC!Your proposal is fine except where you propose your own guidelines. EvC Forum already has a set of Forum Guidelines that are enforced by moderators, and discussion participants are not permitted to add their own. Your preference for focusing on the natural selection of sexual species is fine because that is simply delimiting the topic, but participants do not make the decisions about what constitutes valid discussion. That would be the moderator's realm.Please edit your opening post to make this minor adjustment, then post a short note to this thread letting me know you're done and I'll take another look.

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--	Percy
	EvC Forum Director

Ok, I have made the changes as requested, but as this forum appears to be moderated exclusively by people on the pro-Darwinian evolution side of the debate, I hope that my previous wording for fairness of discussion is kept in mind.

Thread copied to the Has natural selection really been tested and verified? thread in the Biological Evolution forum, this copy of the thread has been closed.