Evolution question

[JustFiveMoreMinutes]

I HAVE tried to find the information (so those who like to yell GOOGLE IT, don't!) but can't find anything exactly.

Butterflies? How did a caterpillar go "Maybe if I become a chrysalis... I will be beautiful and can fly'???

Anything in the Cambrian record point to the (my) mystery?

[RandomNumbers]

1. Great question! Try this:

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/insect-metamorphosis-evolution/

I'm reading it now myself, so not ready to summarize it yet

[LastDemocratInSC]

3. You won the race.

[LastDemocratInSC]

2. How Did Insect Metamorphosis Evolve?

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/insect-metamorphosis-evolution/

[Progressive dog]

4. Random mutations and survival of the fittest'

There are lots of missing links because very few fossils (especially of delicate animals like butterflies) survive for millions of years. There are plenty of fossils that prove that evolution did happen. That it happened is not a mystery.

[GreenWave]

5. And some nations will not allow such research.

[Progressive dog]

7. That's true

There are 17 US states that teach both evolution and creationism. That is sick.
https://worldpopulationreview.com/state-rankings/evolution-teaching-states

[RandomNumbers]

6. More than you probably want to know:

The Evolution of Insect Metamorphosis

amazingly, not paywalled. Enjoy!

(but the SciAm article is more readable for us average people)

[hunter]

8. Nothing magical about it beyond this universe being a strange and wonderful place.

Many plants and animals have different forms, sometimes radically different forms, at various stages of their life cycles.

Why do tadpoles become frogs?

What the hell is human adolescence all about? (My own adolescence was especially rough.)

Animals that must pause to shed their exoskeletons in order to grow larger can do some major internal remodeling in the down time. Some insects, like cockroaches, look pretty much the same at different stages of their lives. Some, like ladybugs and butterflies do not.

wikipedia

There are no "gotcha!" questions challenging the theory of evolution, no more that there are "gotcha!" questions challenging the theory of gravity. One might as well argue that the earth is flat. The butterfly question is one I've heard from creationists, and this makes me a little wary of discussions like this.

As Theodosius Dobzhansky said, "Nothing in Biology Makes Sense Except in the Light of Evolution."

I'm an evolutionary biologist by natural inclination and some formal training. I'm much more comfortable living in an immense constantly evolving universe than I would be living in some madhouse created a few thousand years ago by a cruel and capricious god.

[JustFiveMoreMinutes]

9. THANKS EVERYONE!

I hoped I stated in the first post that I fully accept evolution. My question wasn't about 'if'... but 'how.. knowing we don't know everything and the lack of knowledge automatically equates to Creationism.

Great links and I now know a little more than I did! Always a good day!