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{{Short description|Gradual change in the heritable traits of populations}} {{About|evolution in biology|related articles|Outline of evolution|other uses}} {{For introduction}} {{Featured article}} {{protection padlock|small=yes}} {{Use dmy dates|date=February 2025}} {{Use British English|date=February 2025}} {{Evolution sidebar}} <!--NOTE: Please do not change the lead sentence(s) without consulting the discussion page first. This lead has been discussed and there is general consensus that this is the best one for now. Thanks.--> '''Evolution''' is the change in the [[heritable]] [[Phenotypic trait|characteristics]] of biological populations over successive generations.<ref>{{harvnb|Hall |Hallgrímsson |2008 |pp=[https://books.google.com/books?id=jrDD3cyA09kC&pg=PA4 4–6]}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Evolution Resources |location=Washington, D.C. |publisher=[[National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine]] |year=2016 |url=http://www.nas.edu/evolution/index.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160603230514/http://www.nas.edu/evolution/index.html |archive-date=3 June 2016}}</ref> It occurs when evolutionary processes such as [[natural selection]] and [[genetic drift]] act on genetic variation, resulting in certain characteristics becoming more or less common within a population over successive generations.<ref name="Scott-Phillips-2014">{{cite journal |last1=Scott-Phillips |first1=Thomas C. |last2=Laland |first2=Kevin N. |author2-link=Kevin Laland |last3=Shuker |first3=David M. |last4=Dickins |first4=Thomas E. |last5=West |first5=Stuart A. |author-link5=Stuart West |display-authors=3 |date=May 2014 |title=The Niche Construction Perspective: A Critical Appraisal |journal=[[Evolution (journal)|Evolution]] |volume=68 |issue=5 |pages=1231–1243 |doi=10.1111/evo.12332 |issn=0014-3820 |pmid=24325256 |pmc=4261998 |quote=Evolutionary processes are generally thought of as processes by which these changes occur. Four such processes are widely recognized: natural selection (in the broad sense, to include sexual selection), genetic drift, mutation, and migration (Fisher 1930; Haldane 1932). The latter two generate variation; the first two sort it.}}</ref> The process of evolution has given rise to [[biodiversity]] at every level of [[biological organisation]].<ref>{{harvnb|Hall|Hallgrímsson|2008|pp=3–5}}</ref><ref name="Voet-2016">{{harvnb|Voet|Voet|Pratt|2016|pp=1–22|loc=Chapter 1: Introduction to the Chemistry of Life}}</ref> The [[scientific theory]] of evolution by natural selection was conceived independently by two British naturalists, [[Charles Darwin]] and [[Alfred Russel Wallace]], in the mid-19th century as an explanation for why organisms are adapted to their physical and biological environments. The theory was first set out in detail in Darwin's book ''[[On the Origin of Species]]''.<ref>{{harvnb|Darwin|1859}}</ref> Evolution by natural selection is established by observable facts about living organisms: (1) more offspring are often produced than can possibly survive; (2) [[phenotypic variation|traits vary]] among individuals with respect to their [[morphology (biology)|morphology]], [[physiology]], and behaviour; (3) different traits confer different rates of survival and reproduction (differential [[Fitness (biology)|fitness]]); and (4) traits can be passed from generation to generation ([[heritability]] of fitness).<ref name="Lewontin-1970">{{cite journal |last=Lewontin |first=Richard C. |author-link=Richard Lewontin |date=November 1970 |title=The Units of Selection |url=http://joelvelasco.net/teaching/167/lewontin%2070%20-%20the%20units%20of%20selection.pdf |journal=[[Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics]] |volume=1 |issue=1 |pages=1–18 |doi=10.1146/annurev.es.01.110170.000245 |jstor=2096764 |bibcode=1970AnRES...1....1L |s2cid=84684420 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150206172942/http://joelvelasco.net/teaching/167/lewontin%2070%20-%20the%20units%20of%20selection.pdf |archive-date=6 February 2015 |issn=0066-4162}}</ref> In successive generations, members of a population are therefore more likely to be replaced by the [[offspring]] of parents with favourable characteristics for that environment. In the early 20th century, [[Alternatives to evolution by natural selection|competing ideas of evolution]] were [[Superseded theories in science|refuted]] and evolution was combined with [[Mendelian inheritance]] and [[population genetics]] to give rise to modern evolutionary theory.<ref name="Futuyma2017a">{{harvnb|Futuyma |Kirkpatrick |2017 |pp=3–26 |loc=Chapter 1: Evolutionary Biology}}</ref> [[Modern synthesis (20th century)|In this synthesis]] the basis for heredity is in [[DNA]] molecules that pass information from generation to generation. The processes that change DNA in a population include natural selection, genetic drift, [[mutation]], and [[gene flow]].<ref name="Scott-Phillips-2014" /> All life on Earth—including [[Human evolution|humanity]]—shares a [[last universal common ancestor]] (LUCA),<ref name="Kampourakis-2014">{{harvnb|Kampourakis |2014 |pp=[https://archive.org/details/understandingevo0000kamp/page/127 127–129]}}</ref><ref name="Doolittle-2000">{{cite journal |last=Doolittle |first=W. Ford |author-link=Ford Doolittle |date=February 2000 |title=Uprooting the Tree of Life |url=http://shiva.msu.montana.edu/courses/mb437_537_2004_fall/docs/uprooting.pdf |journal=[[Scientific American]] |issn=0036-8733 |volume=282 |issue=2 |pages=90–95 |doi=10.1038/scientificamerican0200-90 |pmid=10710791 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060907081933/http://shiva.msu.montana.edu/courses/mb437_537_2004_fall/docs/uprooting.pdf |archive-date=7 September 2006 |access-date=5 April 2015 |bibcode=2000SciAm.282b..90D}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Glansdorff |first1=Nicolas |author2=Ying Xu |last3=Labedan |first3=Bernard |date=9 July 2008 |title=The Last Universal Common Ancestor: emergence, constitution and genetic legacy of an elusive forerunner |journal=[[Biology Direct]] |volume=3 |page=29 |doi=10.1186/1745-6150-3-29 |issn=1745-6150 |pmc=2478661 |pmid=18613974 |doi-access=free}}</ref> which lived approximately 3.5–3.8 billion years ago.<ref name="Schopf-2007" /> The [[fossil]] record includes a progression from early [[biogenic]] [[graphite]]<ref name="Ohtomo-2014" /> to [[microbial mat]] fossils<ref name="Borenstein-2013" /><ref name="Pearlman-2013" /><ref name="Noffke-2013" /> to fossilised [[multicellular organism]]s. Existing patterns of biodiversity have been shaped by repeated formations of new species ([[speciation]]), changes within species ([[anagenesis]]), and loss of species ([[extinction]]) throughout the evolutionary [[history of life]] on Earth.<ref name="Futuyma04">{{harvnb|Futuyma|2004|p=33}}</ref> [[morphology (biology)|Morphological]] and [[biochemical]] traits tend to be more similar among species that share a more [[recent common ancestor]], which historically was used to reconstruct [[phylogenetic tree]]s, although direct comparison of genetic sequences is a more common method today.<ref name="Panno 2005">{{harvnb|Panno|2005|pp=xv-16}}</ref><ref>[[#NAS 2008|NAS 2008]], [http://www.nap.edu/openbook.php?record_id=11876&page=17 p. 17] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150630042457/http://www.nap.edu/openbook.php?record_id=11876&page=17 |date=30 June 2015}}</ref> [[Evolutionary biologists]] have continued to study various aspects of evolution by forming and testing [[hypotheses]] as well as constructing theories based on [[empirical evidence|evidence]] from the field or laboratory and on data generated by the methods of [[mathematical and theoretical biology]]. Their discoveries have influenced not just the development of [[biology]] but also other fields including agriculture, medicine, and [[computer science]].<ref name="Futuyma-1999">{{cite web |url=http://www.rci.rutgers.edu/~ecolevol/fulldoc.pdf |title=Evolution, Science, and Society: Evolutionary Biology and the National Research Agenda |year=1999 |editor-last=Futuyma |editor-first=Douglas J. |editor-link=Douglas J. Futuyma |publisher=[[Rutgers University]] |location=New Brunswick, New Jersey |type=Executive summary |oclc=43422991 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120131174727/http://www.rci.rutgers.edu/~ecolevol/fulldoc.pdf |archive-date=31 January 2012 |access-date=24 November 2014}}</ref> {{toclimit|3}}
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