I am reasonably confident in saying that nature doesn't change very much. Things that happen in nature today have been happening for millenia. While there have been some some large scale on-off events, like the breaking up of the super-continent, the flood that the release of subterranean water would have produced and the possibly the ice-age that was caused by the extra cloud cover that evaporation of warm ocean waters and extra volcanic activity would have produced, nature is quite consistent.
If evolution is part of the natural order of things then I would expect it to be continuing, but I have heard that no one, in the entire history of the human race, has ever recorded having witnessed the birth of a new species. While there is plenty of evidence of selective breeding or "survival of the fittest" (finches with specialised beaks, crabs with distinctive patterns on their shells, etc) none of these instances have produced anything that could be called a new species.
I have also heard that scientist have been unable to find any truly positive mutation (ie one where information has been added to DNA) but plenty of negative ones (where information has been lost).
I cannot see any way a new species could be born without outside help (genetic manipulation). I will leave it up to my readers to make up their own mind what they believe to be true.
Richard.
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