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Evolution is the change in the heritable characteristics of biological populations over successive generations. [1] [2] It occurs when evolutionary processes such as natural selection and genetic drift act on genetic variation, resulting in certain characteristics becoming more or less common within a population over successive generations. [3]
Devolution, de-evolution, or backward evolution (not to be confused with dysgenics) is the notion that species can revert to supposedly more primitive forms over time. The concept relates to the idea that evolution has a divine purpose ( teleology ) and is thus progressive ( orthogenesis ), for example that feet might be better than hooves , or ...
Evolution:The History of an Idea. University of California Press. ISBN 978-0-520-23693-6. Darwin, Charles (1872). The Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, or the Preservation of Favored Races in the Struggle for Life (6th ed.). London: John Murray. ISBN 978-1-904633-78-5. Endersby, Jim (2007). A Guinea Pig's History of Biology.
The result of four billion years of evolution is the diversity of life around us, with an estimated 1.75 million different species in existence today. [ 71 ] [ 72 ] Usually the process of speciation is slow, occurring over very long time spans; thus direct observations within human life-spans are rare.
The basic mechanisms of evolution are applied directly or indirectly to come up with novel designs or solve problems that are difficult to solve otherwise. The research generated in these applied fields, contribute towards progress, especially from work on evolution in computer science and engineering fields such as mechanical engineering. [5]
Semantic change (also semantic shift, semantic progression, semantic development, or semantic drift) is a form of language change regarding the evolution of word usage—usually to the point that the modern meaning is radically different from the original usage.
Charles Darwin in 1868. Darwinism is a term used to describe a theory of biological evolution developed by the English naturalist Charles Darwin (1809–1882) and others. The theory states that all species of organisms arise and develop through the natural selection of small, inherited variations that increase the individual's ability to compete, survive, and reproduce.
The first occurrence of the term "evolutionary mismatch" may have been in a paper by Jack E. Riggs published in the Journal of Clinical Epidemiology in 1993. [7] In the years to follow, the term evolutionary mismatch has become widely used to describe biological maladaptations in a wide range of disciplines.