Darwin Gradualism Is Out; Explosive Evolution Is Trending

Evolutionists find evidence of
rapid radiations among most
living things, with bursts of change
accounting for life’s biodiversity

More evolutionary scientists shun gradualism
The growing acceptance of ‘rapid radiation’ theory

by Dr. Sarah Buckland-Reynolds

In the most extensive published examination of animal and plant diversification rates to date, Dr John J. Wiens, professor at the University of Arizona, and Dr Daniel Moen, an assistant professor at the University of California Riverside found that “the majority of earth’s species stem from a few evolutionary explosions”. The study published in the journal Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution examined a taxonomic scope of over 2,000,000 species, from 2,545 families and 17 kingdoms, including over 300,000 species of plants, a million species of insects, over 66,000 species of vertebrates and 1.5 million invertebrates.

Using a “nearly complete” sample comprising of an estimated ~70% of known species (~67% animals, and ~78% vertebrates), the researchers found that “…among the major clades of living organisms and among land plant phyla and animal phyla, >80% of known species richness is contained within the few clades in the upper 90th percentile for diversification rates in each group.” These striking findings led the researchers to the following conclusion: “…these results show for the first time that most of the known species’ richness of life is explained by rapid radiations.”

What do these ‘rapid radiations’ mean for evolutionary theory?

The Significance of Rapid Radiations: An Affront to Gradualism

Charles Darwin (1809-1882)

Uniformitarian assumptions influence the interpretation of almost all data in the realm of both biological and geological evolution. This long-held interpretation of slow, incremental and continuous change over millions of years, driven by random mutation and natural selection, was made famous by Charles Darwin himself. When Darwin wrote his seminal ‘On the Origin of Species’, he specifically regarded gradualism as a cornerstone of his theory. In his words:

“As natural selection acts solely by accumulating slight, successive, favorable variations, it can produce no great or sudden modifications; it can only act by very short and slow steps.” — Charles Darwin, The Origin of Species (1859)

And again, he wrote:

“If it could be demonstrated that any complex organ existed which could not possibly have been formed by numerous, successive, slight modifications, my theory would absolutely break down.” — Charles Darwin, The Origin of Species (1859)

From these quotes, it is evident that Darwin sets a clear testable boundary for his theory: if gradualism fails to explain complexity, then natural selection collapses. This underscores how foundational gradualism was to his evolutionary framework.

However, rapid radiation theory suggests the opposite–that most species emerged in short bursts, not through gradual steady accumulation. If true, this directly undermines uniformitarian assumptions and raises further key questions about the plausibility of theorized evolutionary mechanisms to explain these observations. For instance: Why do most species belong to a few clades, and why are such rapid speciation events said to be ‘rare’ yet dominant?

Intelligent Design theory presents a predictive contrast, as rapid radiation aligns more naturally with the idea of front-loaded potential or purposeful diversification. If life was designed with an embedded capacity to adapt and flourish in new environments, then bursts of speciation would reflect activation of latent, in-built design, not random chance.

Retention of Evolutionary Assumptions…While Invoking Miraculous Thinking!

Although the authors acknowledge rapid speciation, they retain an evolutionary framework in their core assumptions throughout the paper. For example, the article repeatedly invokes the alleged antiquity of species—hundreds of millions of years old—in at least three separate instances.

Another example is found in the commentary of the same article on ScienceDaily, where the researchers stated:

“’Rapid radiations’ of species are thought to occur when a new ecological niche opens up: for example, when a flock of grassquit birds dispersed from Central America to the virgin territory of the Galápagos Islands approximately 2.5 million years ago to diversify into the famous Darwin’s finches; or when an evolutionary innovation like powered flight prompted the radiation of bats 50 million years ago.”

Let’s deconstruct this reasoning: While on the one hand, the authors find that short bursts of speciation fully account for the vast majority of known species, on the other hand, they appeal to evolutionary processes and timelines as somehow (miraculously) explaining the origins of massive engineering wonders such as flight in bats!

Who Is the Innovator?

Inserting the word ‘innovation’ is quite telling, as it implicitly admits an attribution of evolution as an ‘innovator’! Humans require intelligent minds simply to copy these inventions into our own technologies, for the engineering of flight involves significant irreducible complexity—the interdependence of numerous systems, without which functionality would collapse. Humans require intelligent minds to merely copy these inventions into our own technologies, as the engineering of flight ability entails significant irreducible complexity – the interdependence of numerous systems, without which, functionality would fail.

Is it not a conundrum then to attribute such innovative power to the blind force of evolution, which depends on the ‘selection’ of random mutations to somehow work together to invent powered flight? The appeal to Darwinism offers no real explanatory power for these observations.

Weaving Tales

Similar ‘just so’ explanations and circular appeals to evolution appear elsewhere in the paper. For instance, the authors also stated that:

“Across life, a key trait that seems to explain rapid diversification rates is multicellularity … which may have paved the way for much of the phenotypic variability (e.g. different cells and tissue types) in plants, animals, and fungi.”

The Cambrian Explosion is just one of many rapid radiations plaguing evolutionists. (Denver Museum diorama)

The assertion that multicellularity “explains rapid diversification rates” across life overlooks a foundational challenge in evolutionary biology: the origin of multicellularity itself.

While multicellularity is indeed associated with increased phenotypic complexity, invoking it as a driver of diversification sidesteps the deeper question of how multicellularity itself arose in the first place —especially when even the functionality of single cells requires multiple interdependent parts/systems: genetic information, metabolic pathways, structural integrity, homeostasis, protein folding, error correction, repair, and defense mechanisms. The leap from unicellular to multicellular organization requires even more coordinated genetic regulation, intercellular communication, and division of labor—none of which are trivial evolutionary steps.

Treating multicellularity as an explanatory factor for rapid diversification further ignores the mechanisms required for the emergence of differentiated tissue types, as this not only requires structural complexity but also functional integration, which demands a level of genomic and developmental sophistication that is difficult to reconcile with mutation-driven processes. Without a robust model explaining how multicellularity originated and became stably inherited across generations, attributing large-scale diversification to this trait is a prime example of circular reasoning—assuming as its own cause the very complexity that evolution struggles to explain as its own cause.

Philosophical Implications

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Wein and Moen’s study once again reinforces findings that challenge the validity of uniformitarian assumptions.  The revelation that most of Earth’s species stem from a handful of explosions invites us to reconsider the oft propagated story about life’s gradual unfolding. If biodiversity arises not through slow, steady change but through explosive bursts triggered by pivotal traits or ecological upheavals, then evolutionary theory must confront its own inherent contradictions. Would this mounting evidence against gradualism—the very test Darwin sought to falsify his theory—cause it to ‘absolutely break down,’ in his own words?

At the very least, among evolutionary scientists, these findings should signal a revolutionary rethinking of uniformitarian evolution, and its philosophical underpinnings. Let this study function as a catalyst for reexamining foundational assumptions, encouraging critical engagement with entrenched frameworks that mounting evidence has shown to be flawed.

Dr. Sarah Buckland-Reynolds is a Christian, Jamaican, Environmental Science researcher, and journal associate editor. She holds the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Geography from the University of the West Indies (UWI), Mona with high commendation, and a postgraduate specialization in Geomatics at the Universidad del Valle, Cali, Colombia. The quality of her research activity in Environmental Science has been recognized by various awards including the 2024 Editor’s Award from the American Meteorological Society for her reviewing service in the Weather, Climate and Society Journal, the 2023 L’Oreal/UNESCO Women in Science Caribbean Award, the 2023 ICETEX International Experts Exchange Award for study in Colombia. and with her PhD research in drought management also being shortlisted in the top 10 globally for the 2023 Allianz Climate Risk Award by Munich Re Insurance, Germany. Motivated by her faith in God and zeal to positively influence society, Dr. Buckland-Reynolds is also the founder and Principal Director of Chosen to G.L.O.W. Ministries, a Jamaican charitable organization which seeks to amplify the Christian voice in the public sphere and equip more youths to know how to defend their faith.