Evolution - Diversity, Extinction, Adaptation

evolution

Table of Contents

Introduction
General overview
- The evidence for evolution
  - The fossil record
  - Structural similarities
  - Embryonic development and vestiges
  - Biogeography
  - Molecular biology
- History of evolutionary theory
  - Early ideas
  - Charles Darwin
  - Modern conceptions
    - The Darwinian aftermath
    - The synthetic theory
    - Molecular biology and Earth sciences
- The cultural impact of evolutionary theory
  - Scientific acceptance and extension to other disciplines
  - Religious criticism and acceptance
  - Intelligent design and its critics
The science of evolution
- The process of evolution
  - Evolution as a genetic function
    - The concept of natural selection
    - Genetic variation in populations
      The gene pool
      Genetic variation and rate of evolution
      Measuring gene variability
    - The origin of genetic variation: mutations
      Gene mutations
      Chromosomal mutations
  - Dynamics of genetic change
    - Genetic equilibrium: the Hardy-Weinberg law
    - Processes of gene-frequency change
      Mutation
      Gene flow
      Genetic drift
  - The operation of natural selection in populations
    - Natural selection as a process of genetic change
      Selection against one of the homozygotes
      Overdominance
      Frequency-dependent selection
    - Types of selection
      Stabilizing selection
      Directional selection
      Diversifying selection
      Sexual selection
      Kin selection and reciprocal altruism
- Species and speciation
  - The concept of species
  - The origin of species
    - Reproductive isolation
      Ecological isolation
      Temporal isolation
      Ethological (behavioral) isolation
      Mechanical isolation
      Gametic isolation
      Hybrid inviability
      Hybrid sterility
      Hybrid breakdown
    - A model of speciation
    - Geographic speciation
    - Adaptive radiation
    - Quantum speciation
    - Polyploidy
  - Genetic differentiation during speciation
- Patterns and rates of species evolution
  - Evolution within a lineage and by lineage splitting
  - Convergent and parallel evolution
  - Gradual and punctuational evolution
  - Diversity and extinction
  - Evolution and development
- Reconstruction of evolutionary history
  - DNA and protein as informational macromolecules
  - Evolutionary trees
    - Distance methods
    - Maximum parsimony methods
    - Maximum likelihood methods
    - Evaluation of evolutionary trees
- Molecular evolution
  - Molecular phylogeny of genes
  - Multiplicity and rate heterogeneity
  - The molecular clock of evolution
  - The neutrality theory of molecular evolution

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The current diversity of life is the balance between the species that have arisen through time and those that have become extinct. Paleontologists observe that organisms have continuously changed since the Cambrian Period, more than 500 million years ago, from which abundant animal fossil remains are known. The division of geologic history into a succession of eras and periods (see figure) is hallmarked by major changes in plant and animal life—the appearance of new sorts of organisms and the extinction of others. Paleontologists distinguish between background extinction, the steady rate at which species disappear through geologic time, and mass extinctions, ...(100 of 39215 words)

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