We have observed speciation events, such as the transformation of a population of hawthorn maggot flies into apple maggot flies. Biologists have produced reproductively isolated strains of fruit flies in the laboratory by separating groups of fruit flies. Over time and many generations of fruit flies, the two separated groups were unable to interbreed with each other. This happened because of genetic drift between the two separate groups. The result is a new species of fruit fly that is different from the original parent species. In another quite famous case, the dirty air resulting from the industrial revolution forced the speckled moth to develop a dark color. After laws were passed to protect the environment, and stop pollution, the moth returned to its black and white color.

There are many other known examples of rapid speciation in the wild. Rapid hybrid speciation in Darwin’s finches is an example of cross-species hybridization. Behavioral isolation can catalyze speciation and allow the slow accumulation of additional reproductive barriers between co-occurring organisms. A recent, rapid radiation characterized by variations in male plumage coloration and song in two bird species belonging to the southern capuchino seedeaters. Guppies evolved within a few generations. In one case, the rapid formation of cichlid species occurred in Lake Victoria. This may be due to the interaction of two factors: female preference for males of a particular color, which may promote reproductive isolation. The easily modifiable jaws of these fish allowed populations that were partially reproductively isolated to specialize in new food sources. Sexual behavior can lead to rapid speciation. The speed of speciation in Laupala, a group of forest-dwelling Hawaiian crickets, is characterized primarily by differences in the courtship song of males. 

There are other cases where speciation took decades or centuries. With the help of microsatellite markers, researchers have demonstrated the evolution of a new species of brown macroalgae in the Baltic Sea over the past 400 years. In a case of ecological speciation, European flounder in the Baltic Sea have two lineages that diverged within less than 3000 generations. This is the fastest speciation event ever reported for any marine vertebrate.⁵ These are fairly long times in terms of human life – but not for the history of life on Earth.

Scientists have detected morphological and behavioral changes in animals over very short periods of time. For example, a lizard living in the southern United States underwent a dramatic genetic change in response to cold weather in just a few months. A single cold snap can change the way the green anole’s muscular and nervous systems respond to temperature. Their cold tolerance increased. In another case, lizards have rapidly evolved differences in head morphology, bite strength, and digestive tract structure in a short time, 36 years, after being experimentally introduced into a novel environment. These changes were accompanied by dramatic changes in population density and social structure. In another study, Balkan green lizards living on islands were found to differ from those living on the mainland. Living on an island entails greater resource scarcity, which the lizards were able to compensate for by evolving longer gastrointestinal tracts. The tract allowed lizards to retain food longer, maximizing energy yield and increasing the amount of nutrients extracted.

Industrialization and human population growth are also impacting animal populations. A 2018 study found that animals are becoming more nocturnal to avoid humans. 62 species on six continents attempted to respond to our intrusive presence by increasing their nighttime activities.⁹ One study found that urban and rural populations of red foxes from London and surrounding boroughs diverge in terms of cranial characteristics. Urban foxes exhibit smaller snouts, lower sexual dimorphism, and a narrowed braincase. These patterns correspond to the morphological changes that can occur during domestication.

As we can see, there are numerous examples of rapid evolution and rapid speciation in the scientific literature. Someone who does not hold creationist views can extrapolate from these examples to the order of thousands, millions, or billions of years to explain the diversity of life we see. With these examples, evolution meets its burden of proof. Evolution can occur rapidly for a variety of reasons. We do not see terrestrial animals turning into whales within a lifetime, but we should not expect to. Unfortunately, for the average antievolutionist, examples like these are probably not sufficient to prove (macro)evolution. They will not look beyond the examples to the principle. For them, these evolutions do not yet represent a change from one "kind" to another. Despite genetic changes, the bacterium has remained a bacterium, the lizard, a lizard, and the fish, a fish.

The above examples of rapid speciation and evolution are still not “macro” enough by this subjective criterion. The inference to the best explanation is not that these natural changes accumulate over time to account for macroevolution, or the emergence of new “kinds”. There is some “evolutionary roof” that prevents this. The conclusion is that a supernatural Designer has continually intervened on the planet to create macroevolution.

First, one could ask the antievolutionist: what prevents microscopic changes from accumulating over time? What "roof" does evolution meet? Can you name a single living animal or plant species that has met this roof? Or a scientific article discussing it? There is nothing to suggest that this hypothetical roof exists. Gene duplications, which are a type of mutation, happen constantly. Even whole genomes can be duplicated (google whole genome duplication).

Second, one could point out that it is no evolution that predicts macroevolution right before our eyes. It is creationism that does that.

Of course, we do not see enormous evolutionary changes in animals or plants before our eyes. However, it is important to note that this is not a logical prediction made on the basis of evolutionary theory. We would not expect new body plans of animals, as in the Cambrian, to appear before our eyes. Evolution is based on natural processes that take time. Natural mechanisms such as mutation and natural selection cannot produce major changes in an instant. Over time, organisms develop random variations through mutation. These mutations are then tested by the environment. The result is that some traits provide an adaptive advantage, while others are adaptively useless. Over time, adaptive changes become more prevalent in the population. This takes generations. In other words, nature is capable of producing very limited things on the time scale of human life. However, there is no reason to believe that an omnipotent, supernatural Designer should be limited in the same way. The Designer is not bound by time and space. He is not dependent on mutations and natural selection for his creative design work. One would expect great macroscopic changes in human time scales if, indeed, an Intelligent Designer were responsible for the design of life. It is the theory of Intelligent Design that predicts that entirely new genetics, body plans, or species should sometimes appear seemingly out of nowhere. Natural processes could not accomplish this in a human generation, but a supernatural Designer clearly could.

According to ID, macroevolution is impossible: there are no natural mechanisms for creating new “kinds”. A conscious Designer has artificially designed most of the major macroscopic changes in life forms on Earth. According to ID, He is ultimately responsible for the creation of all life, although his designs naturally vary somewhat over time. However, there is not a single instance in history where a new species has appeared as a result of a supernatural design. No one has ever found that God intelligently designed chemical structures or improved existing species. If this Designer existed, it would not be impossible to catch Him in the act of creating new species and guiding life according to his own ideas. The Designer has shown no interest in fixing extinctions caused by humans or natural factors. The Designer could make significant innovations, such as creating completely novel organs, structures, or abilities. God could create life forms whose genetics are based entirely on RNA, not DNA. He could turn fish into air breathing creatures with four legs. He could give a pig wings, or a bird a hand. 

Interesting how God has never observed doing anything, ever. If he created life on our planet, he must have done so very candidly so that it goes unnoticed from the scientific community.  

Sources:

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2017 Winter Storms Drive Rapid Phenotypic, Regulatory, and Genomic Shifts in the Green Anole Lizard. Science. 357. 495-498.

Gaynor, Kaitlyn & Hojnowski, Cheryl & Carter, Neil & Brashares, Justin

2018 The Influence of Human Disturbance on Wildlife Nocturnality. Science. 360. 1232-1235.

Herrel, Anthony & Huyghe, Katleen & Vanhooydonck, Bieke & Backeljau, Thierry & Breugelmans, Karin & Grbac, Irena & Van Damme, Raoul & Irschick, Duncan

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2017 Extraordinarily Rapid Speciation in a Marine Fish. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 114.

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There is no evidence that God ever created any chimeras, like crocoducks, centauri or flying pigs.