Has natural selection really been tested and verified?

I have the distinct feeling that I know you. Your posting style is very familiar. Edited by Shtop, : No reason given.

Easy.1. Individuals pass their characteristics on to their offspring.
2. Individuals that have characteristics that aid them will be more succesful in their environment than individuals that do not have such characteristics. This is natural selection.
3. Individuals that are more successful will tend to have more offspring.
4. Over time, individuals that have characteristics that aid them will increase in number faster than individuals that do not have such characteristics. This is evolutionairy change.

Indeed. Less or more characteristics means not the same amount as before, in other words, there has been a change.Did you notice how I never said anything about how the characteristics arose? Could have been by mutation, or recombination, or genetic drift, or god's almighty powers at work. It really doesn't matter. As long as they are there, natural selection will act upon them.Edited by Shtop, : No reason given.Edited by Shtop, : markup

Thanks for the correction. I'm no expert, just an interested layman. I must say it made me snigger that you object to genetic drift but not to goddidit =)Point remains: the source of the variation doesn't matter.Edited by Shtop, : silly typo