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Part of a series on
Evolutionary biology
Darwin's finches by John Gould
Index Introduction Main Outline Glossary Evidence History
Processes and outcomes Population genetics Variation Diversity Mutation Natural selection Adaptation Polymorphism Genetic drift Gene flow Speciation Adaptive radiation Co-operation Coevolution Coextinction Contingency Divergence Convergence Parallel evolution Extinction
Natural history Origin of life Common descent History of life Timeline of evolution Human evolution Recent human evolution Phylogeny Biodiversity Biogeography Classification Evolutionary taxonomy Cladistics Transitional fossil Extinction event
History of evolutionary theory Overview Renaissance Before Darwin Darwin Origin of Species Before synthesis Modern synthesis Molecular evolution Evo-devo Current research History of speciation History of paleontology (timeline)
Fields and applications Applications of evolution Biosocial criminology Ecological genetics Evolutionary aesthetics Evolutionary anthropology Evolutionary computation Evolutionary ecology Evolutionary economics Evolutionary epistemology Evolutionary ethics Evolutionary game theory Evolutionary linguistics Evolutionary medicine Evolutionary neuroscience Evolutionary physiology Evolutionary psychology Experimental evolution Phylogenetics Paleontology Selective breeding Speciation experiments Sociobiology Island biogeography Systematics Universal Darwinism
Social implications Eugenics Evolution as fact and theory Dysgenics Social effects Creation–evolution controversy Theistic evolution Objections to evolution Level of support Nature-nurture controversy
Evolutionary biology portal  Category
v t e

Evolution, also known as descent with modification, is the change in heritable traits of biological organisms over generations due to natural selection, mutation, gene flow, and genetic drift. Evolutionary biology or evolution is the subfield of biology concerned with study of evolutionary processes that produced the diversity of life on Earth.

Fundamentals

• Introduction to evolution – non-technical introduction
• Applications of evolution – practical applications in fields such as ecology, artificial intelligence, medicine, and computer science
• Common descent – how different lineages of organisms share a most recent common ancestor
  • Most recent common ancestor – most recent individual from which all organisms in a group are directly descended. It is impossible to identify the specific MRCA of a large set of individuals, but an estimate of the time at which the MRCA lived can often be given.
  • Evidence of common descent –
• Evolution as fact and theory – basis for scientific acceptance as theory (well-substantiated explanation) based on fact (empirical data and objective verifiable observation)
• Evolutionary history of life – outline of major events during evolution of life on Earth
  • Timeline of evolutionary history of life – more concise outline
• Macroevolution – change above level of species, including:
  • Speciation – evolutionary process by which new biological species arise.
    • Natural speciation
      • Allopatric speciation –
      • Peripatric speciation –
      • Parapatric speciation –
      • Sympatric speciation –
    • Artificial speciation
      • Animal husbandry –
      • Plant breeding –
      • Genetic engineering –
    • Hybrid speciation –
  • Anagenesis –
  • Extinction –
• Microevolution – change within species or populations, due to mutation, selection (natural and artificial), gene flow, and genetic drift
• Evolvability – capacity of a system for adaptive evolution. Beneficial mutations are always rare, but if they are too rare, then adaptation cannot occur. Biological genomes are structured in ways that make beneficial changes less unlikely than they would otherwise be. Evolution has created not just fitter organisms, but populations of organisms that are better able to evolve.

Subfields

• Ecological genetics
• Evolutionary aesthetics
• Evolutionary anthropology
• Evolutionary developmental biology
• Evolutionary ecology
• Evolutionary medicine
• Evolutionary neuroscience
• Evolutionary physiology
• Evolutionary psychology
• Evolutionary taxonomy
• Experimental evolution
• Molecular evolution
• Population genetics
• Systematics

History

• 1860 Oxford evolution debate
• Evolutionary progress
• History of evolutionary psychology
• History of evolutionary thought
• Scopes Trial
• Modern evolutionary synthesis

Organisms

Tetrapods

• Evolution of tetrapods

• Evolution of dinosaurs

• Evolution of birds

• Evolution of mammals

• Evolution of cetaceans
• Evolution of horses
• Evolution of primates

• Evolution of humans

• Human evolutionary genetics
• Timeline of human evolution

• Evolution of lemurs

• Evolution of sirenians

• Evolution of reptiles

Other animals

• Evolution of brachiopods
• Evolution of cephalopods
• Evolution of fish
• Evolution of insects

• Evolution of butterflies
• Peppered moth evolution

• Evolution of molluscs
• Evolution of spiders

Plants

• Evolution of plants

• Evolutionary anachronism
• Plant evolution
• Plant evolutionary developmental biology
• Timeline of plant evolution

Other taxa

• Evolution of fungi
• Evolution of viruses

• Evolution of influenza

• E. coli long-term evolution experiment

Cells, organs, systems

• Evolution of cells
• Evolution of flagella
• Evolution of mammalian auditory ossicles
• Evolution of nervous systems
• Evolution of snake venom
• Evolution of the brain
• Evolution of the eye

• Evolution of color vision
• Evolution of color vision in primates

Molecules and genes

• Directed evolution
• Error threshold (evolution)
• Evolution of DNA
• Gene-centered view of evolution
• Genome evolution
• Hologenome theory of evolution
• Molecular evolution

• History of molecular evolution
• Neutral theory of molecular evolution
• Nearly neutral theory of molecular evolution

• Neutral network (evolution)
• RNA-based evolution

Processes

• Concerted evolution
• Convergent evolution

• List of examples of convergent evolution

• Divergent evolution

• Divergent evolution in animals

• Evolution of ageing
• Evolution of biological complexity
• Evolution of multicellularity
• Evolution of photosynthesis
• Evolutionary arms race
• Evolutionary capacitance
• Evolutionary fauna
• Evolutionary logic
• Evolutionary pressure
• Evolutionary radiation
• Evolutionary trap
• Horizontal evolution
• Horizontal gene transfer in evolution
• Human evolution (origins of society and culture)
• Inversion (evolutionary biology)
• Mosaic evolution
• Parallel evolution
• Quantum evolution
• Recurrent evolution
• Robustness (evolution)

Taxonomy, systematics, and phylogeny

• Alpha taxonomy
• Biological classification
• Cladistics
• Evolutionary grade
• Lineage (evolution)
• Linnaean taxonomy
• Phylogenetics
• Taxonomy (biology)
• Taxonomic rank

Psychology and behaviour

• Co-operation (evolution)
• Evolution of biparental care in tropical frogs
• Evolution of dominance
• Evolution of emotion
• Evolution of eusociality
• Evolution of human intelligence
• Evolution of morality
• Evolution of schizophrenia
• Evolution of sexual reproduction

• Sexual selection in human evolution

• Evolutionary aesthetics
• Evolutionary approaches to depression
• Evolutionary developmental psychology
• Evolutionary educational psychology
• Evolutionary ethics
• Evolutionary leadership theory
• Evolutionary musicology
• Evolutionary origin of religions
• Evolutionary psychology of parenting
• Evolutionary psychology of religion
• Reciprocity (evolution)
• Theoretical foundations of evolutionary psychology

Modelling

• Emergent evolution
• Epic of evolution
• Evolution window
• Evolutionary dynamics
• Evolutionary game theory
• Evolutionary graph theory
• Evolutionary invasion analysis
• Largest-scale trends in evolution

Religious and philosophical views

• Acceptance of evolution by religious groups
• Atheistic evolution
• Conscious evolution
• Buddhism and evolution
• Catholic Church and evolution
• Hindu views on evolution
• Islamic views on evolution

• Ahmadiyya views on evolution

• Jewish views on evolution
• Mormon views on evolution
• Theistic evolution

Controversy

• Creation–evolution controversy
• Criticism of evolutionary psychology
• Evolutionary argument against naturalism
• Level of support for evolution
• Objections to evolution
• Social effects of evolutionary theory
• Theology of creationism and evolution

See also

• Outline of biology

References

External links

• This outline displayed as a mindmap, at wikimindmap.com

General information

• Evolution on In Our Time at the BBC
• "Evolution". New Scientist. Retrieved May 30, 2011.
• "Evolution Resources from the National Academies". U.S. National Academy of Sciences. Retrieved May 30, 2011.
• "Understanding Evolution: your one-stop resource for information on Evolution". University of California, Berkeley. Retrieved May 30, 2011.
• "Evolution of Evolution – 150 Years of Darwin's "On the Origin of Species"". National Science Foundation. Retrieved May 30, 2011.

Experiments concerning the process of biological evolution

• Lenski RE. "Experimental Evolution – Michigan State University". Retrieved July 31, 2013.
• Algorithms, games, and evolution, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA

Online lectures

• Carroll SB. "The Making of the Fittest". Retrieved May 30, 2011.
• Stearns SC. "Principles of Evolution, Ecology and Behavior". Retrieved August 30, 2011.

• Outlines
• Evolution
• Evolution-related lists