What is the evidence for evolution?

HOW CAN WE UNDERSTAND EVENTS AND PROCESSES THAT OCCURRED MANY YEARS AGO?

Evidence for evolution comes from many sources, including from the study of fossils, from artificial selection in the production of domesticated breeds, from studies of the comparative anatomy of groups of related organisms, and from the geographical distribution of species. Fossils allow us to understand and know about events and processes that occurred many years ago and over a long period of time. Fossilization is an extremely rare, chance event. Predators, scavengers and bacterial action normally break down dead plant and animal structures before they can be fossilized. Of the relatively few fossils formed, most remain buried or, if they do become exposed, are overlooked or accidentally destroyed.

Despite being such a rare event, numerous fossils have been found – and more continue to be discovered all the time. If the fossil, or the rock that surrounds it, can be accurately dated (using radiometric dating techniques, which measure naturally occurring radioactive substances such as carbon-14 in relation to the amount of carbon-12), we have good evidence of the history of life.