Intro to Evolution Misconceptions Survey

1. Evolution is something a person

should either believe in, or not

believe in.

O FALSE!

O Beliefs are based on faith.

O Evolution is based on observable evidence

that has been repeatedly tested (challenged)
and found to survive all tests.

O EVOLUTION IS BASED ON FACTS

2. Evolution is a process that

includes the origin of life.

O FALSE!

O Biological evolution is about the origin of

species (different kinds of life) after life came
into existence.

O Scientific ideas about the origin of life are a

separate issue.

3. Evolution is primarily

concerned with the origin of

humans.

O FALSE!

O Evolution applies to all living (and once

living) organisms.

4. According to evolution, people
came from monkeys a long time

ago.

O FALSE!

O According to evolution,

modern monkeys and
humans evolved
separately long ago from a
shared ancestor that was
neither monkey nor
human.

5. Evolution was first proposed

and explained by Charles Darwin.

O FALSE!

O Writings about evolution were taking place

ever since the time of the early Greeks.

O During Darwinʼs life, many were talking and

writing about evolution.

O Darwin is most noted for developing a

detailed testable explanation for how
evolution happens.

6. Evolution is something that
happened only in the past; it is

not happening now.

O FALSE!

O Evolution has been operating ever since life

came into existence- and is still happening
now.

7. Evolution is only a theory.

O FALSE!

O If by theory, you mean mere speculation or

opinion, than evolution is not that at all.

O Evolution is an inferred fact- overwhelming

evidence that supports it, with no evidence
against it.

O Many correctly say that evolution is both a

theory and a fact.

8. Evolution is like a chain, with
each group of organisms evolving
into the next “link” in the chain.

O FALSE!

O Itʼs more like a

branching tree.

9. Fossils reveal many problems
that evolution cannot explain.

O FALSE!

O Evolution provides the best explanation for

virtually all observations of fossils and living
organisms.

10. Evolution has been tested and
challenged many times, but has
always been supported by the

results.

O TRUE!!

O …and nothing has been observed that

threatens the validity of evolution…

11. Big dinosaurs were common
during the time of early humans.

O FALSE!

O Dinosaurs went extinct

about 65 million years ago.

O The earliest human fossils

are only about 6 million
years old.

12. According to evolution, new
species usually result from major
mutations in a single generation.

O FALSE!

O Most new species arise gradually, over many

generations.

O More and more new features accumulate as a

mosaic, until members have become significantly
different from the previous group.

O Each new feature is usually due to a new

combination of genes rather than a new
mutation.

13. The formation of complex

structures, like the eye, can now
be easily explained by evolution.

O TRUE!

O There are multiple species currently in

existence that show gradual stages of light-
and image-perception.

O Complex systems and structures very likely

evolved from functional but simpler systems
and structures.

O DNA studies have confirmed this.