Editing Macroevolution (section)

==Examples==

=== Evolutionary faunas ===
A macroevolutionary benchmark study is Sepkoski's<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Sepkoski|first=J. John|date=1981|title=A factor analytic description of the Phanerozoic marine fossil record|journal=Paleobiology|volume=7|issue=1|pages=36–53|doi=10.1017/s0094837300003778|bibcode=1981Pbio....7...36S |issn=0094-8373}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Sepkoski|first=J. John|date=1984|title=A kinetic model of Phanerozoic taxonomic diversity. III. Post-Paleozoic families and mass extinctions|journal=Paleobiology|volume=10|issue=2|pages=246–267|doi=10.1017/s0094837300008186|bibcode=1984Pbio...10..246S |issn=0094-8373}}</ref> work on marine animal diversity through the Phanerozoic. His iconic diagram of the numbers of marine families from the Cambrian to the Recent illustrates the successive expansion and dwindling of three "[[evolutionary fauna]]s" that were characterized by differences in origination rates and carrying capacities. Long-term ecological changes and major geological events are postulated to have played crucial roles in shaping these evolutionary faunas.<ref name="Rojas2021a">{{cite journal |last1=Rojas |first1=A. |last2=Calatayud |first2=J. |last3=Kowalewski |first3=M. |last4=Neuman |first4=M. |last5=Rosvall |first5=M. |title=A multiscale view of the Phanerozoic fossil record reveals the three major biotic transitions. |journal=Communications Biology |date=March 8, 2021 |volume=4 |issue=1 |page=309 |doi=10.1038/s42003-021-01805-y |pmid=33686149 |issn=2399-3642|pmc=7977041 }}</ref>

=== Stanley's rule ===
Macroevolution is driven by differences between species in origination and extinction rates. Remarkably, these two factors are generally positively correlated: taxa that have typically high diversification rates also have high extinction rates. This observation has been described first by [[Steven M. Stanley|Steven Stanley]], who attributed it to a variety of ecological factors.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Stanley, Steven M.|title=Macroevolution, pattern and process|date=1979|publisher=W.H. Freeman|isbn=0-7167-1092-7|location=San Francisco|oclc=5101557}}</ref> Yet, a positive correlation of origination and extinction rates is also a prediction of the [[Red Queen hypothesis]], which postulates that evolutionary progress (increase in fitness) of any given species causes a decrease in fitness of other species, ultimately driving to extinction those species that do not adapt rapidly enough.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Van Valen|first=L.|date=1973|title=A new evolutionary law|journal=Evolutionary Theory|volume=1|pages=1–30}}</ref> High rates of origination must therefore correlate with high rates of extinction.<ref name=":1" /> Stanley's rule, which applies to almost all taxa and geologic ages, is therefore an indication for a dominant role of biotic interactions in macroevolution.

=== "Macromutations": Single mutations leading to dramatic change ===
{{Multiple image
| image1            = 202208 Fruit fly female adult from a overhead view.svg
| image2            = 202208 Fruit fly bithorax complex.svg
| footer            = Mutations in the [[Ultrabithorax]] gene lead to a duplication of wings in fruit flies.
| total_width       = 300
| caption1          = Normal phenotype
| caption2          = Bithorax phenotype
| caption_align     = center
}}
While the vast majority of mutations are inconsequential, some can have a dramatic effect on morphology or other features of an organism. One of the best studied cases of a single mutation that leads to massive structural change is the [[Ultrabithorax]] mutation in [[Drosophila melanogaster|fruit flies.]] The mutation duplicates the wings of a fly to make it look like a [[dragonfly]], a different order of insect.

=== Evolution of multicellularity ===
{{Main|Multicellular organism}}
The evolution of multicellular organisms is one of the major breakthroughs in evolution. The first step of converting a unicellular organism into a [[Animal|metazoan]] (a multicellular organism) is to allow cells to attach to each other. This can be achieved by one or a few [[mutation]]s. In fact, many [[bacteria]] form multicellular assemblies, e.g. [[cyanobacteria]] or [[myxobacteria]]. Another species of bacteria, ''Jeongeupia sacculi'', form well-ordered sheets of cells, which ultimately develop into a bulbous structure.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Datta |first1=Sayantan |last2=Ratcliff |first2=William C |date=2022-10-11 |title=Illuminating a new path to multicellularity |journal=eLife |volume=11 |pages=e83296 |doi=10.7554/eLife.83296 |pmid=36217823 |issn=2050-084X |pmc=9553208 |doi-access=free }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Mizuno |first1=Kouhei |last2=Maree |first2=Mais |last3=Nagamura |first3=Toshihiko |last4=Koga |first4=Akihiro |last5=Hirayama |first5=Satoru |last6=Furukawa |first6=Soichi |last7=Tanaka |first7=Kenji |last8=Morikawa |first8=Kazuya |date=2022-10-11 |editor-last=Goldstein |editor-first=Raymond E |editor2-last=Weigel |editor2-first=Detlef |title=Novel multicellular prokaryote discovered next to an underground stream |journal=eLife |volume=11 |pages=e71920 |doi=10.7554/eLife.71920 |pmid=36217817 |pmc=9555858 |issn=2050-084X |doi-access=free }}</ref> Similarly, unicellular yeast cells can become multicellular by a single mutation in the ACE2 gene, which causes the cells to form a branched multicellular form.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Ratcliff |first1=William C. |last2=Fankhauser |first2=Johnathon D. |last3=Rogers |first3=David W. |last4=Greig |first4=Duncan |last5=Travisano |first5=Michael |date=May 2015 |title=Origins of multicellular evolvability in snowflake yeast |journal=Nature Communications |language=en |volume=6 |issue=1 |pages=6102 |doi=10.1038/ncomms7102 |issn=2041-1723 |pmc=4309424 |pmid=25600558|bibcode=2015NatCo...6.6102R }}</ref>

=== Evolution of bat wings ===
The wings of [[bat]]s have the same structural elements (bones) as any other five-fingered mammal (see [[Limb development|periodicity in limb development]]). However, the finger bones in bats are dramatically elongated, so the question is how these bones became so long. It has been shown that certain growth factors such as [[bone morphogenetic protein]]s (specifically [[Bone morphogenetic protein 2|Bmp2]]) is over expressed so that it stimulates an elongation of certain bones. Genetic changes in the bat genome identified the changes that lead to this phenotype and it has been recapitulated in mice: when specific bat DNA is inserted in the mouse genome, recapitulating these mutations, the bones of mice grow longer.<ref name=":4">{{Cite journal |last1=Sears |first1=Karen E. |last2=Behringer |first2=Richard R. |last3=Rasweiler |first3=John J. |last4=Niswander |first4=Lee A. |date=2006-04-25 |title=Development of bat flight: Morphologic and molecular evolution of bat wing digits |journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences |language=en |volume=103 |issue=17 |pages=6581–6586 |doi=10.1073/pnas.0509716103 |issn=0027-8424 |pmc=1458926 |pmid=16618938|bibcode=2006PNAS..103.6581S |doi-access=free }}</ref>

=== Limb loss in lizards and snakes ===
{{main|Limbless vertebrates}}
[[File:Vine-thicket Fine-lined Slider (Lerista cinerea).jpg|thumb|Limbloss in lizards can be observed in the genus ''[[Lerista]]'' which shows many intermediary steps with increasing loss of digits and toes. The species shown here, ''[[Lerista cinerea]]'', has no digits and only 1 toe left.]]
[[Snake]]s evolved from [[lizard]]s. [[Phylogenetics|Phylogenetic]] analysis shows that snakes are actually nested within the [[phylogenetic tree]] of lizards, demonstrating that they have a common ancestor.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Streicher |first1=Jeffrey W. |last2=Wiens |first2=John J. |date=2017-09-30 |title=Phylogenomic analyses of more than 4000 nuclear loci resolve the origin of snakes among lizard families |journal=Biology Letters |volume=13 |issue=9 |pages=20170393 |doi=10.1098/rsbl.2017.0393 |pmc=5627172 |pmid=28904179}}</ref> This split happened about 180 million years ago and several intermediary [[fossil]]s are known to document the origin. In fact, limbs have been lost in numerous clades of [[reptile]]s, and there are cases of recent [[Limbless vertebrate|limb loss]]. For instance, the [[skink]] genus ''[[Lerista]]'' has lost limbs in multiple cases, with all possible intermediary steps, that is, there are species which have fully developed limbs, shorter limbs with 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 or no toes at all.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Skinner |first1=Adam |last2=Lee |first2=Michael SY |last3=Hutchinson |first3=Mark N |date=2008 |title=Rapid and repeated limb loss in a clade of scincid lizards |journal=BMC Evolutionary Biology |language=en |volume=8 |issue=1 |pages=310 |doi=10.1186/1471-2148-8-310 |issn=1471-2148 |pmc=2596130 |pmid=19014443 |doi-access=free |bibcode=2008BMCEE...8..310S }}</ref>

=== Human evolution ===
While human evolution from their primate ancestors did not require massive morphological changes, our brain has sufficiently changed to allow human consciousness and intelligence. While the latter involves relatively minor morphological changes it did result in dramatic changes to [[Brain|brain function]].<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/903489046 |title=Macroevolution: explanation, interpretation and evidence |date=2015 |first1=Emanuele |last1=Serrelli |first2=Nathalie |last2=Gontier |isbn=978-3-319-15045-1 |location=Cham |oclc=903489046}}</ref> Thus, macroevolution does not have to be morphological, it can also be functional.

=== Evolution of viviparity in lizards ===
[[File:Zootoca vivipara. 3epo.Post.jpg|thumb|The European Common Lizard (''[[Viviparous lizard|Zootoca vivipara]]'') consists of populations that are egg-laying or live-bearing, demonstrating that this dramatic difference can even evolve within a species.]]
Most lizards are egg-laying and thus need an environment that is warm enough to incubate their eggs. However, some species have evolved [[viviparity]], that is, they give birth to live young, as almost all [[mammal]]s do. In several clades of lizards, egg-laying (oviparous) species have evolved into live-bearing ones, apparently with very little genetic change. For instance, a European common lizard, [[Viviparous lizard|''Zootoca vivipara'']], is viviparous throughout most of its range, but oviparous in the extreme southwest portion.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Heulin |first=Benoît |date=1990-05-01 |title=Étude comparative de la membrane coquillère chez les souches ovipare et vivipare du lézard Lacerta vivipara |url=http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/10.1139/z90-147 |journal=Canadian Journal of Zoology |language=en |volume=68 |issue=5 |pages=1015–1019 |doi=10.1139/z90-147 |bibcode=1990CaJZ...68.1015H |issn=0008-4301|url-access=subscription }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Arrayago |first1=Maria-Jesus |last2=Bea |first2=Antonio |last3=Heulin |first3=Benoit |date=1996 |title=Hybridization Experiment between Oviparous and Viviparous Strains of Lacerta vivipara: A New Insight into the Evolution of Viviparity in Reptiles |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/3892653 |journal=Herpetologica |volume=52 |issue=3 |pages=333–342 |jstor=3892653 |issn=0018-0831}}</ref> That is, within a single species, a radical change in reproductive behavior has happened. Similar cases are known from South American lizards of the genus ''[[Liolaemus]]'' which have egg-laying species at lower altitudes, but closely related viviparous species at higher altitudes, suggesting that the switch from oviparous to viviparous reproduction does not require many genetic changes.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Ii |first1=James A. Schulte |last2=Macey |first2=J. Robert |last3=Espinoza |first3=Robert E. |last4=Larson |first4=Allan |date=January 2000 |title=Phylogenetic relationships in the iguanid lizard genus Liolaemus: multiple origins of viviparous reproduction and evidence for recurring Andean vicariance and dispersal |journal=Biological Journal of the Linnean Society |language=en |volume=69 |issue=1 |pages=75–102 |doi=10.1111/j.1095-8312.2000.tb01670.x|doi-access=free }}</ref>

=== Behavior: Activity pattern in mice ===
Most animals are either active at night or during the day. However, some species switched their activity pattern from day to night or vice versa. For instance, the African striped mouse (''[[Four-striped grass mouse|Rhabdomys pumilio]]''), transitioned from the ancestrally [[Nocturnality|nocturnal]] behavior of its close relatives to a [[Diurnality|diurnal]] one. [[Whole genome sequencing|Genome sequencing]] and [[Transcriptomics technologies|transcriptomics]] revealed that this transition was achieved by modifying genes in the [[Rod cell|rod]] [[Visual phototransduction|phototransduction]] pathway, among others.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Richardson |first1=Rose |last2=Feigin |first2=Charles Y. |last3=Bano-Otalora |first3=Beatriz |last4=Johnson |first4=Matthew R. |last5=Allen |first5=Annette E. |last6=Park |first6=Jongbeom |last7=McDowell |first7=Richard J. |last8=Mereby |first8=Sarah A. |last9=Lin |first9=I-Hsuan |last10=Lucas |first10=Robert J. |last11=Mallarino |first11=Ricardo |date=August 2023 |title=The genomic basis of temporal niche evolution in a diurnal rodent |url=|journal=Current Biology |volume=33 |issue=15 |pages=3289–3298.e6 |doi=10.1016/j.cub.2023.06.068 |pmid=37480852 |pmc=10529858 |bibcode=2023CBio...33E3289R |issn=0960-9822 }}</ref>