What types of evidence is are there for evolution?

Answer 1

The most obvious evidence is that we can observe evolution happening before our very eyes. There are many examples of this, and many experiments have been done and it is shown that beneficial mutations do arise and that organisms do indeed evolve by natural selection.

Artificial selection is strong evidence for evolution. Humans acted as selecting agents and forced non random mating in animals, which resulted in a huge diversity of variations. A good example is the different breeds of dogs, all have been artifically selected for their traits. Taking this further, nature can act as a selecting agent through differential survival and produce non random mating.

Fossil record is a powerful evidence. The sequence of fossils in the sedimentary layers matches what the evolution theory predicted perfectly. There is not a single out of sequence fossil in the fossil record. Also, there are many fossils that show the entire evolutionary process, for example, the evolution of whales from land dwelling mammals, the evolution of horses, and despite popular misconception, the evolution of humans is well documented by fossils.

The geographic distribution of animals is also exactly what we would expect if animals had all evolved from a common ancestor. There are no native mammals in Australia and New Zealand, except for the bat which can fly there, but is unique to marsupial species. Animals on islands differ slightly from the nearest mainland, showing speciation.

Molecular data is by far the most powerful evidence for evolution. Our DNA is 98% identical to chimps, which we share the most recent common ancestor with, and it is slightly less identical to gorillas, and even lessly similar to rats, and even lesser compared to fish, and so on. We can make a tree of life using DNA data with their degrees of similarity, and if we take different proteins and compare their DNA independently, they all agree on the same tree.

I summarized those evidences from The Greatest Show on Earth -- the evidence for evolution, by Richard Dawkins.

Answer 2

There are various types of evidence for evolution, including the fossil record showing transitional forms, comparative anatomy highlighting similarities between different species, molecular Biology revealing genetic connections, and observed instances of natural selection leading to adaptations in living organisms. These pieces of evidence together provide a robust framework supporting the theory of evolution.