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e. Divergent evolution or divergent selection is the accumulation of differences between closely related populations within a species, sometimes leading to speciation. Divergent evolution is typically exhibited when two populations become separated by a geographic barrier (such as in allopatric or peripatric speciation) and experience different ...
v. t. e. Convergent evolution is the independent evolution of similar features in species of different periods or epochs in time. Convergent evolution creates analogous structures that have similar form or function but were not present in the last common ancestor of those groups. The cladistic term for the same phenomenon is homoplasy.
Category. v. t. e. Darwin's finches. Evolutionary biology is the subfield of biology that studies the evolutionary processes (natural selection, common descent, speciation) that produced the diversity of life on Earth. It is also defined as the study of the history of life forms on Earth.
Here is a list of examples in which unrelated proteins have similar functions with different structure. The convergent orientation of the catalytic triad in the active site of serine and cysteine proteases independently in over 20 enzyme superfamilies. [252] The use of an N-terminal threonine for proteolysis.
Lineage (evolution) – Sequence of populations, organisms, cells, or genes that form a line of descent. Molecular phylogenetics – Branch of phylogeny that analyzes genetic, hereditary molecular differences. Most recent common ancestor – Most recent individual from which all organisms in a group are directly descended.
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. Genetic changes include mutations, which are caused by damage or replication ...
Genetic divergence. Genetic divergence is the process in which two or more populations of an ancestral species accumulate independent genetic changes (mutations) through time, often leading to reproductive isolation and continued mutation even after the populations have become reproductively isolated for some period of time, as there is not any ...
Evolution is a historical process, and the outcomes of history can be sensitive to the details of the interactions and events that preceded them. Contingency was especially emphasized by Stephen Jay Gould, particularly in his 1989 book Wonderful Life. [1][2] Gould used the thought experiment of rewinding the "tape of life" to the distant past ...