Evolution - Natural Selection, Genetics, 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

References & Edit History Quick Facts & Related Topics

Images & Videos

How Charles Darwin developed the theory of evolution

Brian Greene asks Richard Dawkins: Does God exist?

British naturalist Alfred Russel Wallace

Watch Earth's continents move, from 650 million years ago to 250 million years in the future

For Students

evolution summary

Read Next

10 Animals With Evolutionary Traits Plucked Straight Out of a Nightmare

Charles Darwin, carbon print photograph by Julia Margaret Cameron, 1868.

What Darwin Got Right (and Wrong) About Evolution

Spiral Galaxy type Sa-Sb or Sa/Sb in the constellation Virgo. The majestic Sombrero Galaxy Messier 104 (M104) or NGC 4594. The team took six pictures of the galaxy, stitched them together to create the final composite image. Photo from May-June 2003

9 Britannica Articles That Explain the Meaning of Life

9 Animals That Look Like Leaves

Skull of Homo heidelbergensis (fossils, hominids).

Human Ancestors

Discover

The Sun Was Eaten: 6 Ways Cultures Have Explained Eclipses

Aphrodite. Greek mythology. Sculpture. Aphrodite is the Greek goddess of love and beauty.

12 Greek Gods and Goddesses

Mona Lisa, oil on wood panel by Leonardo da Vinci, c. 1503-06; in the Louvre, Paris, France. 77 x 53 cm.

Why Is the Mona Lisa So Famous?

Pluto. The Changing Faces of Pluto. Most detailed view to date of the entire surface of the dwarf planet Pluto, as constructed from multiple NASA Hubble Space Telescope photographs taken from 2002 to 2003.

10 Important Dates in Pluto History

How Is Coffee Decaffeinated?

solar eclipse, sun, moon, astronomy, space

How Do You Tell the Difference Between Total, Annular, Solar, and Lunar Eclipses?

Periodical Cicada, Adult, Magicicada spp. Requires 17 years to complete development. Nymph splits its skin, and transforms into an adult. Feeds on sap of tree roots. Northern Illinois Brood. This brood is the largest emergence of cicadas anywhere

Why Do Some Cicadas Appear Only Every 17 Years?

The publication of the Origin of Species produced considerable public excitement. Scientists, politicians, clergymen, and notables of all kinds read and discussed the book, defending or deriding Darwin’s ideas. The most visible actor in the controversies immediately following publication was the English biologist T.H. Huxley, known as “Darwin’s bulldog,” who defended the theory of evolution with articulate and sometimes mordant words on public occasions as well as in numerous writings. Evolution by natural selection was indeed a favourite topic in society salons during the 1860s and beyond. But serious scientific controversies also arose, first in Britain and then on the ...(100 of 39215 words)

Access the full article

Help support true facts by becoming a member.