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Evolution by natural selection is the process by which traits that enhance survival and reproduction become more common in successive generations of a population. It embodies three principles: [7] Variation exists within populations of organisms with respect to morphology, physiology and behaviour (phenotypic variation).
Also called functionalism. The Darwinian view that many or most physiological and behavioral traits of organisms are adaptations that have evolved for specific functions or for specific reasons (as opposed to being byproducts of the evolution of other traits, consequences of biological constraints, or the result of random variation). adaptive radiation The simultaneous or near-simultaneous ...
These same models can be applied to studying the evolution of human preferences and ideologies. Many variants on these models have been developed, which incorporate weak selection, mutual population structure, stochasticity, etc. These models have relevance also to the generation and maintenance of tissues in mammals, since an understanding of ...
Convergent evolution is the process in which related or distantly related organisms evolve similar characteristics independently. This type of evolution creates analogous structures which have a similar function, structure, or form between the two species. For example, sharks and dolphins look alike but they are not related.
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 and is thus progressive (orthogenesis), for example that feet might be better than hooves, or lungs than gills.
Recent human evolution refers to evolutionary adaptation, sexual and natural selection, and genetic drift within Homo sapiens populations, since their separation and dispersal in the Middle Paleolithic about 50,000 years ago. Contrary to popular belief, not only are humans still evolving, their evolution since the dawn of agriculture is faster ...
In biology, evolution is the process of change in all forms of life over generations, and evolutionary biology is the study of how evolution occurs. Biological populations evolve through genetic changes that correspond to changes in the organisms' observable traits.
Genome evolution – Process by which a genome changes in structure or size over time; Hologenome theory of evolution – Organism as host plus microbe community; Models of DNA evolution – Mathematical models of changing DNA; Molecular evolution – Process of change in the sequence composition of cellular molecules across generations