>Natural selection means that a number of random mutations must have taken
place >in the germ line of the panderichthyid fish in order for it to take
the very >first steps toward becoming a tetrapod.
I believe it is important to draw clear lines of demarcation between how
natural selection would act on a population from innovations that might
occur in the gene pool. Changes in the genetic mix could occur from causal
factors. Whether those changes are random, or generated by environmental
factors, or brought about by acts of special creation could be an area of
discussion. Whether genetic changes are passed to descendant populations
via natural selection, or the imposition of a supreme being could be another
area of discussion. I think your sentence tends to mix the apples with the
oranges.
Dick Fischer
THE ORIGINS SOLUTION
http://www.orisol.com