No, they do not evolve. They mutate. Big difference. From Dictionary.com:
mutate [myoo-teyt]
Examples Word Origin
verb (used with object), mutated, mutating.
1.to change; alter.
2. to change by umlaut.
verb (used without object), mutated, mutating.
3.to change; undergo mutation.
evolve [ih-volv] Examples Word Origin
verb (used with object), evolved, evolving.
1. to develop gradually: to evolve a scheme.
2. to give off or emit, as odors or vapors. verb (used without object), evolved, evolving.
3. to come forth gradually into being; develop; undergo evolution: The whole idea evolved from a casual remark.
4. Biology. to develop by a process of evolution to a different adaptive state or condition: The human species evolved from an ancestor that was probably arboreal.
Seems pretty close to me.
They are different. Mutate = change. Evolve = develop. So viruses should have wings so they can spread faster. And humans shouldn't have ear lobes or tail bones. And politicians should be ethical.
That's why evolution is a farce. Hypothetical. Fiction. But don't take my word for it. Just listen to what the "King of Evolution" says about it:
Thank you heartily for what you say about my book [On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection]; but you will be greatly disappointed; it will be grievously too hypothetical. It will very likely be of no other service than collocating some facts; though I myself think I see my way approximately on the origin of species. But, alas, how frequent, how almost universal it is in an author to persuade himself of the truth of his own dogmas. My only hope is that I certainly see very many difficulties of gigantic stature. - Charles Darwin, 1859