Editing Lineage (evolution) (section)

{{short description|Sequence of populations, organisms, cells, or genes that form a line of descent}}
An evolutionary '''lineage''' is a temporal series of populations, organisms, cells, or genes connected by a continuous line of descent from ancestor to descendant.<ref>The [[University of California, Berkeley]] resource on understanding evolution defines a lineage as "A continuous line of descent; a series of [[organism]]s, populations, cells, or genes connected by ancestor/descendant relationships." [http://evolution.berkeley.edu/evolibrary/glossary/glossary.php?start=g&end=m Understanding Evolution, Glossary of Terms]</ref><ref>The [[Oxford English Dictionary]] defines biological lineage as "a sequence of species each of which is considered to have evolved from its predecessor."[https://web.archive.org/web/20070930004858/http://www.askoxford.com/concise_oed/lineage?view=uk OED definition of lineage]</ref> Lineages are subsets of the evolutionary [[Tree of life (biology)|tree of life]]. Lineages are often determined by the techniques of [[molecular systematics]].