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Whereas nowadays cladograms are usually created by applying algorithmic methods to gene sequences, Sokal numerically compared the morphological characteristics of organisms, rather than their genetic information. [8] [3] The Caminalcules can be used as a tool for evaluating taxonomic methods by virtue of their similarity to data sets of real ...
Life is a quality that distinguishes matter that has biological processes, such as signaling and self-sustaining processes, from matter that does not. It is defined descriptively by the capacity for homeostasis, organisation, metabolism, growth, adaptation, response to stimuli, and reproduction.
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.
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]
The prevailing scientific hypothesis is that the transition from non-living to living entities on Earth was not a single event, but a process of increasing complexity involving the formation of a habitable planet, the prebiotic synthesis of organic molecules, molecular self-replication, self-assembly, autocatalysis, and the emergence of cell ...
Biological processes are made of many chemical reactions or other events that are involved in the persistence and transformation of life forms. [1] Regulation of biological processes occurs when any process is modulated in its frequency, rate or extent.
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.
The biological organisation of life is a fundamental premise for numerous areas of scientific research, particularly in the medical sciences. Without this necessary degree of organisation, it would be much more difficult—and likely impossible—to apply the study of the effects of various physical and chemical phenomena to diseases and ...