Evolutionary biology

Evolutionary biology is the subfield of biology that studies the evolutionary processes such as natural selection, common descent, and speciation that produced the diversity of life on Earth. In the 1930s, the discipline of evolutionary biology emerged through what Julian Huxley called the modern synthesis of understanding, from previously unrelated fields of biological research, such as genetics and ecology, systematics, and paleontology.

The investigational range of current research has widened to encompass the genetic architecture of adaptation, molecular evolution, and the different forces that contribute to evolution, such as sexual selection, genetic drift, and biogeography. The newer field of evolutionary developmental biology ("evo-devo") investigates how embryogenesis is controlled, thus yielding a wider synthesis that integrates developmental biology with the fields of study covered by the earlier evolutionary synthesis.

SubfieldsEdit

Template:See also

Evolution is the central unifying concept in biology. Biology can be divided into various ways. One way is by the level of biological organization, from molecular to cell, organism to population. Another way is by perceived taxonomic group, with fields such as zoology, botany, and microbiology, reflecting what was once seen as the major divisions of life. A third way is by approaches, such as field biology, theoretical biology, experimental evolution, and paleontology. These alternative ways of dividing up the subject have been combined with evolutionary biology to create subfields like evolutionary ecology and evolutionary developmental biology.

More recently, the merge between biological science and applied sciences gave birth to new fields that are extensions of evolutionary biology, including evolutionary robotics, engineering,<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> algorithms,<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> economics,<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> and architecture.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The basic mechanisms of evolution are applied directly or indirectly to come up with novel designs or solve problems that are difficult to solve otherwise. The research generated in these applied fields, contribute towards progress, especially from work on evolution in computer science and engineering fields such as mechanical engineering.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

In evolutionary developmental biology, scientists look at how the different processes in development play a role in how a specific organism reaches its current body plan. The genetic regulation of ontogeny and the phylogenetic process is what allows for this kind of understanding of biology. By looking at different processes during development, and going through the evolutionary tree, one can determine at which point a specific structure came about.<ref>Ozernyuk, N.D. (2019) "Evolutionary Developmental Biology: the Interaction of Developmental Biology, Evolutionary Biology, Paleontology, and Genomics". Paleontological Journal, Vol. 53, No. 11, pp. 1117–1133. ISSN 0031-0301.</ref><ref>Gilbert, Scott F., Barresi, Michael J.F.(2016). "Developmental Biology" Sinauer Associates, inc.(11th ed.) pp. 785–810. Template:ISBN.</ref>

HistoryEdit

{{#invoke:Labelled list hatnote|labelledList|Main article|Main articles|Main page|Main pages}}

The idea of evolution by natural selection was proposed by Charles Darwin in 1859, but evolutionary biology, as an academic discipline in its own right, emerged during the period of the modern synthesis in the 1930s and 1940s.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> It was not until the 1980s that many universities had departments of evolutionary biology.

Microbiology too is becoming an evolutionary discipline now that microbial physiology and genomics are better understood. The quick generation time of bacteria and viruses such as bacteriophages makes it possible to explore evolutionary questions.

Many biologists have contributed to shaping the modern discipline of evolutionary biology. Theodosius Dobzhansky and E. B. Ford established an empirical research programme. Ronald Fisher, Sewall Wright, and J. B. S. Haldane created a sound theoretical framework. Ernst Mayr in systematics, George Gaylord Simpson in paleontology and G. Ledyard Stebbins in botany helped to form the modern synthesis. James Crow,<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Richard Lewontin,<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Dan Hartl,<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Marcus Feldman,<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> and Brian Charlesworth<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> trained a generation of evolutionary biologists.

Research topicsEdit

Research in evolutionary biology covers many topics and incorporates ideas from diverse areas, such as molecular genetics and mathematical and theoretical biology. Some fields of evolutionary research try to explain phenomena that were poorly accounted for in the modern evolutionary synthesis. These include speciation,<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref><ref>Bernstein, H. et al. Sex and the emergence of species. J Theor Biol. 1985 Dec 21;117(4):665-90. doi: 10.1016/s0022-5193(85)80246-0. PMID 4094459.</ref> the evolution of sexual reproduction,<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref><ref>Bernstein, H. et al. Genetic damage, mutation, and the evolution of sex. Science. 1985 Sep 20;229(4719):1277-81. doi: 10.1126/science.3898363. PMID 3898363.</ref> the evolution of cooperation, the evolution of ageing,<ref>Avise, J.C. Perspective: The evolutionary biology of aging, sexual reproduction, and DNA repair. Evolution. 1993 Oct;47(5):1293–1301. doi: 10.1111/j.1558-5646.1993.tb02155.x. PMID 28564887.</ref> and evolvability.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>

Some evolutionary biologists ask the most straightforward evolutionary question: "what happened and when?". This includes fields such as paleobiology, where paleobiologists and evolutionary biologists, including Thomas Halliday and Anjali Goswami, studied the evolution of early mammals going far back in time during the Mesozoic and Cenozoic eras (between 299 million to 12,000 years ago).<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref><ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> Other fields related to generic exploration of evolution ("what happened and when?" ) include systematics and phylogenetics.

The modern evolutionary synthesis was devised at a time when the molecular basis of genes was unknown. Today, evolutionary biologists try to determine the genetic architecture underlying visible evolutionary phenomena such as adaptation and speciation. They seek answers to questions such as which genes are involved, how interdependent are the effects of different genes, what do the genes do, and what changes happen to them (e.g., point mutations vs. gene duplication or even genome duplication). They try to reconcile the high heritability seen in twin studies with the difficulty in finding which genes are responsible for this heritability using genome-wide association studies.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> The modern evolutionary synthesis involved agreement about which forces contribute to evolution, but not about their relative importance.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

JournalsEdit

Some scientific journals specialise exclusively in evolutionary biology as a whole, including the journals Evolution, Journal of Evolutionary Biology, and BMC Evolutionary Biology. Some journals cover sub-specialties within evolutionary biology, such as the journals Systematic Biology, Molecular Biology and Evolution and its sister journal Genome Biology and Evolution, and Cladistics.

Other journals combine aspects of evolutionary biology with other related fields. For example, Molecular Ecology, Proceedings of the Royal Society of London Series B, The American Naturalist and Theoretical Population Biology have overlap with ecology and other aspects of organismal biology. Overlap with ecology is also prominent in the review journals Trends in Ecology and Evolution and Annual Review of Ecology, Evolution, and Systematics. The journals Genetics and PLoS Genetics overlap with molecular genetics questions that are not obviously evolutionary in nature.

ReferencesEdit

Template:Reflist

External linksEdit

{{#invoke:Navbox|navbox}} {{#invoke:Navbox|navbox}} Template:Biology nav Template:Evolutionary psychology Template:Portal bar Template:Authority control