Outline of evolution

The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to evolution:

A diagram showing the relationships betweens various groups of organisms

Evolution – change in heritable traits of biological organisms over generations due to natural selection, mutation, gene flow, and genetic drift. Also known as descent with modification. Over time these evolutionary processes lead to formation of new species (speciation), changes within lineages (anagenesis), and loss of species (extinction). "Evolution" is also another name for evolutionary biology, the subfield of biology concerned with studying evolutionary processes that produced the diversity of life on Earth.

1 Fundamentals about evolution
2 Evolutionary theory and modelling
3 Taxonomy, systematics, and phylogeny
4 Evolution of biodiversity
5 Applications in other disciplines
6 Evolutionary issues
7 Publications and organizations concerning evolution
8 Evolution scholars and researchers
- 8.1 Prominent evolutionary biologists
9 See also
10 References
11 External links

Fundamentals about evolution

Life timeline

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Simple life

photosynthesis

Eukaryotes

Complex
multicellular life

Land animals

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Dinosaurs

Mammals

Flowers

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Earliest Earth

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Earliest water

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Earliest life
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Meteorite bombardment

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Earliest oxygen

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Atmospheric oxygen

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Oxygen Crisis

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Earliest sexual reproduction

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Earliest land life

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Earliest humans

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Axis scale: Millions of years.
also see {{Nature timeline}}

Introduction

Introduction to evolution – non-technical introduction
Evolution – more technical introduction
Evolution as fact and theory – basis for scientific acceptance as theory (well-substantiated explanation) based on fact (empirical data and objective verifiable observation)

Basic principles

Macroevolution – change above level of species, including:
- Speciation – evolutionary process by which new biological species arise
  - Natural speciation
    - Allopatric speciation – speciation that occurs after biological populations become isolated from each other (also known as geographic speciation)
    - Peripatric speciation – speciation that occurs in biological populations with adjacent ranges
    - Parapatric speciation – speciation that occurs in biological populations with adjacent, but not significantly overlapping ranges
    - Sympatric speciation – speciation that occurs in biological populations that inhabit the same geographic region
  - Artificial speciation
    - Animal husbandry – management and care of farm animals, typically involving selective breeding
    - Plant breeding – selective breeding of plants to produce desired characteristics
    - Genetic engineering – direct manipulation of an organism's genome using biotechnology
  - Hybrid speciation – speciation wherein hybridization between two different species leads to a new species
- Despeciation – loss of a unique species due to combining with another previously distinct species
- Anagenesis – changes in a lineage that result in a new morphospecies distinct in form from an ancestral species ("phyletic transformation")
- Extinction – end of a lineage such that there are no longer living populations of a species (or other taxon)
Microevolution – change within species or populations, due to mutation, selection (natural and artificial), gene flow, and genetic drift
- Artificial selection – the process by which humans increase particular traits in a lineage or population by choosing which individuals have offspring together (also called Selective breeding)
- Natural selection – differential survival and reproduction of individuals due to differences in heritable traits (phenotype), a key mechanism of evolution
  - Sexual selection – a mode of natural selection wherein members of one gender choose mates of the other gender to mate with, resulting in distinct gender-based differences
- Mutation – a permanent change of the genome of an organism (nucleotide sequence), a key mechanism of evolution
- Gene flow – movement of genes from one population to another (through migration, dispersal, transport of pollen, etc.)
- Genetic drift – change in frequency of a gene variant (allele) in a population due to random sampling

Subfields

Biogeography – the study of distribution of species and ecosystems in geographic space and through geological time
Ecological genetics – the study of genetics in natural populations
Evolutionary biology – study of the evolutionary processes that produced the diversity of life on Earth. More specifically, it studies the descent of species, and the origin of new species.
- Evolutionary developmental biology – the study of developmental processes to determine the ancestral relationships and discover how developmental processes evolved (informally called evo-devo)
Evolutionary ecology – the study of ecology with explicit consideration of evolutionary histories of species, or conversely the study of evolution that incorporates an understanding of ecological interactions between the species
Evolutionary physiology – the study of changes in functional characteristics over generations as the result of selection
Evolutionary taxonomy – branch of biological classification that classifies organisms based on phylogenetic relationship (shared descent), progenitor-descendant relationship (serial descent), and degree of evolutionary change
Experimental evolution – study of evolution using controlled experiments to test hypotheses and theories
Molecular evolution – study of change in sequence composition of cellular molecules such as DNA, RNA, and proteins across generations
Phylogenetics – study of evolutionary history, development, and relationships among groups of organisms
Population genetics – study of distribution and change in frequency of alleles within populations
Paleontology – study of evolution of life based on the fossil record
- Paleovirology – study of ancient viruses based on fossil viruses
- Timeline of paleontology – summary of key dates and events in the history of paleontology
Systematics – study of diversification of living forms, both past and present, and relationships among living organisms through time

History

Charles Darwin – English naturalist and geologist, best known for his contributions to evolutionary theory

On the Origin of Species – work of scientific literature by Charles Darwin, considered to be foundation of evolutionary biology (published 1859)
Caricatures of Charles Darwin and his evolutionary theory in 19th-century England – artistic depictions concerning Charles Darwin and evolutionary theory

History of evolutionary thought – historical account of evolutionary thought from antiquity through present

By period or event

Evolutionary ideas of the Renaissance and Enlightenment
Transmutation of species
1860 Oxford evolution debate
The eclipse of Darwinism
Evolutionary progress
Scopes Trial
Modern evolutionary synthesis, 20th century synthesis of ideas from various fields of biology (particularly genetics, cytology, systematics, botany, morphology, ecology, and paleontology) to provide the widely accepted account of evolution
Current research

By field

Social effect of evolutionary theory

Evolutionary theory and modelling

See also Basic principles (above)

Population genetics

Population genetics
Process
Variation
- Genetic variation
Key concepts
Effects of selection
- Genetic hitchhiking
- Negative selection (natural selection)
Related topics
- Microevolution
- Evolutionary game theory
- Fitness landscape
- Genetic genealogy
- Quantitative genetics, branch of population genetics that deals with phenotypes which vary continuously

Evolutionary phenomena

Adaptation
Adaptive radiation
Coevolution
Concerted evolution
Convergent evolution
- List of examples of convergent evolution
Divergent evolution
- Divergent evolution in animals
Evolution of ageing
Evolution of biological complexity
Evolution of multicellularity
Evolution of photosynthesis
Evolution of sexual reproduction
Evolutionary arms race
Evolutionary capacitance
Evolutionary fauna
Evolutionary logic
Evolutionary pressure
Evolutionary radiation
Evolutionary trap
Evolutionary suicide –
Evolvability – capacity of a system for adaptive evolution. Beneficial mutations are always rare, but if they are too rare, then adaptation cannot occur. Biological genomes are structured in ways that make beneficial changes less unlikely than they would otherwise be. Evolution has created not just fitter organisms, but populations of organisms that are better able to evolve.
Extinction
Fitness (biology)
- Inclusive fitness
  - Kin selection
- Reproductive success
Horizontal evolution
Horizontal gene transfer in evolution
Human evolution (origins of society and culture)
Inversion (evolutionary biology)
Mosaic evolution
Parallel evolution
Quantum evolution
Genetic recombination
Recurrent evolution
Robustness (evolution)
Speciation

Modelling

Taxonomy, systematics, and phylogeny

Fundamentals

Taxonomy
Systematics – study of diversification of living forms, both past and present
- Cladogram
- Phylogenetic tree
Phylogenetics
- Cladistics
- Computational phylogenetics
- Common descent – how different lineages of organisms share a most recent common ancestor
- Evidence of common descent –
- Evolutionary grade
- Lineage (evolution)
- Molecular phylogenetics
- Most recent common ancestor – most recent individual from which all organisms in a group are directly descended. It is impossible to identify the specific MRCA of a large set of individuals, but an estimate of the time at which the MRCA lived can often be given.

Basic concepts of phylogenetics

Inference methods

Maximum parsimony (phylogenetics)
Minimum evolution
Probabilistic methods
- Maximum likelihood
- Bayesian inference
Distance matrices in phylogeny
Three-taxon analysis

Current topics

Group Traits

Group Types

Evolution of biodiversity

Biodiversity – variety of different types of life found on the Earth and the variations within species.^[1] It is a measure of the variety of organisms present in different ecosystems. This can refer to genetic variation, ecosystem variation, or species variation (number of species)^[1] within an area, biome, or planet. Terrestrial biodiversity tends to be greater near the equator,^[2] which seems to be the result of the warm climate and high primary productivity.^[3] Biodiversity is not distributed evenly on Earth. It is richest in the tropics. Marine biodiversity tends to be highest along coasts in the Western Pacific, where sea surface temperature is highest and in the mid-latitudinal band in all oceans.

Origin and evolutionary history of life

Abiogenesis (origin of life)
Evolutionary history of life – outline of major events during evolution of life on Earth
Timeline of evolutionary history of life – more concise outline

Evolution of organisms

Evolution of tetrapods

Evolution of tetrapods

Evolution of other animals

Evolution of plants

Evolution of plants

Evolution of other taxa

Evolution of cells, organs, and systems

Evolution of molecules and genes

Evolution of behaviour

Evolution of other processes

Applications in other disciplines

Applications of evolution – practical applications in fields such as ecology, artificial intelligence, medicine, and computer science
Biological anthropology –
Evolutionary aesthetics –
Evolutionary anthropology –
Evolutionary computation –
Evolutionary economics –
- Kenneth Boulding's evolutionary perspective –
Evolutionary epistemology –
Evolutionary ethics –
Evolutionary linguistics –
Evolutionary medicine –
Evolutionary neuroscience –
Evolutionary psychology –
- Biosocial criminology –
- Criticism of evolutionary psychology –
- Evolution of morality –
- Evolution of schizophrenia –
- Evolutionary aesthetics –
- Evolutionary approaches to depression –
- Evolutionary developmental psychology –
  - Evolutionary developmental psychopathology –
- Evolutionary educational psychology –
- Evolutionary ethics –
- Evolutionary leadership theory –
- Evolutionary musicology –
- Evolutionary origin of religions –
- Evolutionary psychology of language –
- Evolutionary psychology of parenting –
- Evolutionary psychology of religion –
- Theoretical foundations of evolutionary psychology –
Universal Darwinism –

Evolutionary issues

Controversy about evolution

Religious and philosophical views of evolution

Acceptance of evolution by religious groups
Atheistic evolution
Conscious evolution
Buddhism and evolution
Catholic Church and evolution
Hindu views on evolution
Islamic views on evolution

Ahmadiyya views on evolution

Influence of evolutionary theory

Publications and organizations concerning evolution

Books

Evolution: The Modern Synthesis – book by Julian Huxley (grandson of Thomas Henry Huxley); one of the most important books of modern evolutionary synthesis, published in 1942
The Genetical Theory of Natural Selection – book by R.A. Fisher important in modern evolutionary synthesis, first published in 1930
Genetics and the Origin of Species – 1937 book by Ukrainian-American evolutionary biologist Theodosius Dobzhansky
On the Origin of Species – seminal book by Charles Darwin concerning evolution by natural selection, first published in 1859
Systematics and the Origin of Species from the Viewpoint of a Zoologist – book by zoologist and evolutionary biologist Ernst Mayr, canonical publication of modern evolutionary synthesis, first published in 1942 by Columbia University Press
The Structure of Evolutionary Theory – technical book on macroevolutionary theory by the Harvard paleontologist Stephen Jay Gould
Evolutionary Biology (textbook) –

Journals

Evolution – monthly scientific journal published by the Society for Study of Evolution (also called International Journal of Organic Evolution)
Evolutionary Anthropology (journal) –
Evolutionary Psychology (journal) –
Journal of Evolutionary Biology –
Journal of Zoological Systematics and Evolutionary Research –
Trends in Ecology & Evolution (TREE) – Elsevier journal of review articles about ecology and evolution

Organizations

Evolution scholars and researchers

Prominent evolutionary biologists

References

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↑ K. Rohde: Latitudinal gradients in species diversity and their causes. I. A review of the hypotheses explaining the gradients. Biologisches Zentralblatt 97, 393-403, 1978a.
↑ K. Rohde: Latitudinal gradients in species diversity and their causes. II. Marine parasitological evidence for a time hypothesis. Biologisches Zentralblatt 97, 405-418, 1978b.
↑ Appenzeller, T. 1999. "Test tube evolution catches time in a bottle." Science. 284: 2108-2110
↑ Wright, Sewall (1932) The Roles of Mutation, Inbreeding, Crossbreeding, and Selection in Evolution. Proceedings of the Sixth International Congress of Genetics 1: 356-366
↑ Wright, Sewall (1988) Surfaces of Selective Value Revisited. The American Naturalist 131(1):115-123
↑ Lee, Carol E. & Gelebiuk, Gregory W. (2008) Evolutionary origins of invasive populations. "Evolutionary Applications" 1: 427-448.

External links

General information

Evolution on In Our Time at the BBC. (listen now)
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Experiments concerning the process of biological evolution

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Algorithms, games, and evolution, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA

Online lectures

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[Latitudinal_gradients.281978a.29-4] K. Rohde: Latitudinal gradients in species diversity and their causes. I. A review of the hypotheses explaining the gradients. Biologisches Zentralblatt 97, 393-403, 1978a.

[Latitudinal_gradients.281978b.29-5] K. Rohde: Latitudinal gradients in species diversity and their causes. II. Marine parasitological evidence for a time hypothesis. Biologisches Zentralblatt 97, 405-418, 1978b.

[6] Appenzeller, T. 1999. "Test tube evolution catches time in a bottle." Science. 284: 2108-2110

[Wright1932-7] Wright, Sewall (1932) The Roles of Mutation, Inbreeding, Crossbreeding, and Selection in Evolution. Proceedings of the Sixth International Congress of Genetics 1: 356-366

[Wright1988-8] Wright, Sewall (1988) Surfaces of Selective Value Revisited. The American Naturalist 131(1):115-123

[Lee2008-9] Lee, Carol E. & Gelebiuk, Gregory W. (2008) Evolutionary origins of invasive populations. "Evolutionary Applications" 1: 427-448.

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