"change over time"??  Well that should solve the problem - IF the problem is
the word evolution and not the concept of evolution.  Evolve and change are
synonyms, but what the heck - if one of the words feels better than the
other, by all means use it.  Kind of like overcoming your fear of dogs by
calling them canines - then you never have to face a dog again :-)
Reminds me of an old story, not really shell related, but at least ocean
related.  It seems American scientists studying the huge ocean waves caused
by earthquakes didn't like the name "tidal waves" because, after all, they
have nothing to do with tides.  A lot of research had been done in this area
by Japanese scientists, so the Americans adopted the Japanese term Tsunami.
This term was used for some time until the origin of the word came to light.
Tsunami is the Japanese translation of the english phrase "tidal wave".  So
the story goes - I don't know Japanese so I can't confirm it.  Anyway, both
names have now been dropped in favor of the more descriptive name "seismic
sea waves".
Funny thing about natural phenomena - they continue to behave exactly the
same, regardless of what we call them or what we believe about them.
Paul M.