Macroevolution explained

If you're reluctant to drop $80 on a copy of Zimmer/Emlen's Evolution: Making Sense of Life, here's a deal for you: the NCSE will let you download a chapter for free, the one on macroevolution (pdf). That's a good choice. I run into a fair number of pro-science people who think the macroevolution/microevolution distinction is something made up by creationists (it's not -- it's abused by creationists, but then they mangle a lot of science). The chapter includes a good section on punctuated equilibrium, another topic often battered badly by even people arguing on the side of science, and a bit about how random statistical variation can lead to the illusion of trends in macroevolution.

Go download it and read it now. There will be a test later.