Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
Professor of biology Jerry Coyne sums up biological evolution succinctly: [3]. Life on Earth evolved gradually beginning with one primitive species – perhaps a self-replicating molecule – that lived more than 3.5 billion years ago; it then branched out over time, throwing off many new and diverse species; and the mechanism for most (but not all) of evolutionary change is natural selection.
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 word phyletic derives from the Greek φυλετικός phūletikos, which conveys the meaning of a line of descent. [2] Phyletic gradualism contrasts with the theory of punctuated equilibrium, which proposes that most evolution occurs isolated in rare episodes of rapid evolution, when a single species splits into two distinct species, followed by a long period of stasis or non-change.
As the most celebrated argument in evolutionary biology, (Edwards, 1998, pp. 564–569) Fisher's principle is a staple of popular science books on evolution. For example, see: Gould, Stephen Jay (2002). The Structure of Evolutionary Theory. pp. 648– 649, 678, 692. Dawkins, Richard; Wong, Yan (2004). "The Seal's Tale".
Neutral theory – Theory of evolution by changes at the molecular level; Shifting balance theory – One version of the theory of evolution; Price equation – Description of how a trait or gene changes in frequency over time; Coefficient of relationship – Measure of biological relationship between individuals
The first is a historical study of classical evolutionary thought, drawing extensively upon primary documents; the second is a constructive critique of the modern synthesis, and presents a case for an interpretation of biological evolution based largely on hierarchical selection, and the theory of punctuated equilibrium (developed by Niles ...
Here the evolution of human society (socialization) is ruled by psychological, economic, informational and communicative processes. For Teilhard there is a further stage, one of spiritual evolution , the Christing of the collective noosphere, in which humanity converges in a single divinisation he calls the Omega Point .
Darwin's first sketch of an evolutionary tree from his First Notebook on Transmutation of Species (1837). Charles Darwin became a naturalist at a point in the history of evolutionary thought when theories of Transmutation were being developed to explain discrepancies in the established faith based explanations of species.