you can observe evolution in realtime in less complex species. we just live too long, so the number of generations we can observe is too small. we can even see it in insects.
xikarra
Evolution is a continuous process. Evolution happens every time a baby is born. Speciation is what's more difficult to observe.
deathtokoalas
"speciation" as we used to define it in the old linnaean sense is an idea that has largely been ejected from science. inter-species breeding is really pretty common in nature, especially in plants. calling the offspring a hybrid no longer seems to be meaningful, given how normal it is.
but, in a sense, your semantic comment is meaningful, i just need to react with further semantics, if you want to be that way - what you're describing is not evolution, it is variation. and, yes, you can see variation in almost every population, almost everywhere you look.
evolution is when a specific allele becomes dominant within a specific population, which takes generations and generations and cannot be observed in organisms with longish lifespans. it can be observed in microrganisms, and certain insects that live very short lives, like drosophilia.
and, evolution does not require speciation in the old linnaean sense, either. speciation is really something entirely different than evolution, something which has to do with evolution happening within a circumstance of restricted gene flow. when gene flow is sufficient, the organism will evolve without speciating in any meaningful sense.