The word "evolution" predates Darwin by more than 2 centuries. It comes from the Latin word "evolutio," which means "unrolling of a scroll," In the 1600's it's use conveyed the idea of opening or unrolling something. By the mid-17th century it was being used to describe general growth, such as the development of an organism from an embryo or egg.
It's ironic to note how original meaning and uses of the word "evolution" more closely describe views of gene expression arising from scroll-like DNA.
In relation to the term as a reference to life forms, in the context of Darwins theory, we could divide it into two types: microevolution and macroevolution.
Microevolution, or adaptation, describes a species' response to the environment to ensure survival. It can be seen in changes in a feature, such as color or size. For example, in how some birds have developed longer necks to feed from the bottom of parts of a pond that other birds can't reach.
Note that adaptation doesn't involve changing from one species into another, as seen in how every species has a huge variety of sizes and color expressions but none are transitioning into any other species.
The genetic code was written within the DNA scroll of all creatures to allow a wide variety of gene expression in response to environment and breeding. For example, all different colors and sizes of horses are still clearly recognizable as horses. They are unable to break the barrier of being a horse no matter how they breed or adapt.
Species is like hardwiring that can't be changed. It allows for adaptations which could be compared to software.
If living creatures came into being through macroevolution, a continual process of transformation from one species to the next, we shouldn’t be able to classify them into such distinctly different categories that don’t cross over.
If macroevolution were true, we should see living transitional forms between every species. We should be able to go out into the forest some where on Earth and see ape-human hybrids sitting around a fire, using their simple tools.
Why do we still have original life forms alive with us today (such as reptiles, which supposedly evolved into birds, and monkeys, which supposedly evolved into man), yet all the transitional stages of every living species on Earth disappeared?
If transitional species ever existed they should still exist, otherwise they are nothing more than a hypothetical construct. The only reason they don't still exist is because they never did.
Yes, we did evolve, but not from another species.
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