Biological evolution

This article is about the process of evolution.

For biological evolution see Evolution and for other uses of evolution, see Evolution_(disambiguation).

Note to the Wikipedia Community

PLEASE STOP DELETING EVERYTHING YOU CAN FIND THE SLIGHTEST EXCUSE TO! This page is a work in progress. I have a headache from being ATTACKED SO MUCH IN HERE, so cut me a break already, and PLEASE STOP TRYING TO HIDE WHAT EVOLUTION IS! There SHOULD BE A PLACE FOR A DESCRIPTION OF EVOLUTION SOMEWHERE ON THIS SITE! Since the Evolution page is not allowed to be about the process of evolution because it was reserved for biological evolution it seems only fair that this page should be allowed to be about evolution, since it was about NOTHING AT ALL! So please STOP DELETING EVERYTHING I DO ALREADY!

Introduction

Evolution is the accumulation of change. Anything in which changes accumulate, evolves. This is true of culture, language, computer software, technology, knowledge, automation, and so on.

Evolution denial

While evolution happens all around us, there are still people who deny that evolution occurs. Some people have the idea that evolution does not happen. Of course, that can be settled by looking at the revision history of the Biological evolution Wikipedia page. Also, a quick web search for information about the evolution of just about anything should provide plenty of additional reference material.

Numeric evolution

Because biological evolution tends to hog all of the attention, you might never have heard of many of the things which are understood in terms of evolution. A simple example is the evolution of a number sequence. This can have a random element, such as repeatedly rolling a dice and adding even numbers while subtracting odd numbers, or it can be something as ordered and predictable as th evolution of the Fibonacci sequence.

Biological evolution

Of course, biology also evolves, as do wiki pages as changes accumulate, when not prohibited from doing so. Case in point. This one: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evolution. As a matter of fact, this page is an offspring of the Biological evolution page. While this article is about the process of evolution, it should be noted that biological evolution is a subset of evolution and apparently commonly mistaken for the only kind of evolution, mainly by people who deny there's any such thing as evolution.

Probably the most well known type of evolution, accumulation of hereditary modification, also known as descent with modification, causes the accumulation of change in the inherited characteristics of biological populations over successive generations. Such evolutionary processes give rise to diversity at every level of biological organisation, including the biodiversity of species, individual organisms and molecules such as DNA and proteins.

Evolution in a cellular automaton

By far the most well known cellular automaton is Conway's Game of Life. From its simple rules, complex evolving patterns easily and predictably emerge. Although no randomness is involved, it can appear quite random and somewhat chaotic to those who are not accustomed to it. An example of a repeating evolution is found in a simple structure within Conway's Game of Life known as a glider. As it moves diagonally through otherwise empty automaton space, the glider goes takes on 4 shapes, or 2 shapes and their mirror images, before repeating the cycle. Each shape is formed by making changes to its shape according to the rules of the automaton. While the changes in location continuously accumulate until an obstruction is reached, the changes in shape accumulate for only 4 cycles, or generations, before returning to a previous configuration. Thus, the evolution repeats.

History of the concept of evolution

Further information: History of evolutionary thought

The English word evolution has been in use at least since the early 17th century. and itself has evolved over time.

While Charles Darwin is well known in connection with evolution, mainly due to his book entitled On the Origin of Species he actually only mentioned the word evolved once in the first edition. It was in fact the very last word in the book before the index, and did not even appear in the index. No other forms of the word evolution were used in the book in the early editions. The word evolution was in fact not included in any edition until the

In fact, even Charles' Darwin's well known book has evolved.

Many people these days have been fooled into thinking that the word evolution has always described something totally random, but in fact the word nothing could be further from the truth. The word evolution was originally used in a rather limited sense to describe plans, commands, or maneuvers, rolled out in an orderly fashion, and has since evolved to simply mean the accumulation of change, whether random, orderly, guided, or some combination. Evolution itself is in fact not random although some instances of random do have random elements.

See also

2

References

• Hall, Brian K.; Hallgrímsson, Benedikt (2008). Strickberger's Evolution (4th ed.). Sudbury, MA: Jones and Bartlett Publishers. ISBN 978-0-7637-0066-9. LCCN 2007008981. OCLC 85814089. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)

Further reading

Further information: Bibliography of biology

Introductory reading

• Barrett, Paul H.; Weinshank, Donald J.; Gottleber, Timothy T., eds. (1981). A Concordance to Darwin's Origin of Species, First Edition. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press. ISBN 0-8014-1319-2. LCCN 80066893. OCLC 610057960. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Carroll, S. (2005). Endless Forms Most Beautiful. New York: W.W. Norton. ISBN 0-393-06016-0.
• Charlesworth, Brian; Charlesworth, Deborah (2003). Evolution: A Very Short Introduction. Very Short Introductions. Oxford; New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-280251-8. LCCN 2003272247. OCLC 51668497. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Coyne, J. (2009). Why evolution is true. Penguin Group. ISBN 978-0-670-02053-9.
• Gould, S.J. (1989). Wonderful Life: The Burgess Shale and the Nature of History. New York: W.W. Norton. ISBN 0-393-30700-X.
• Jones, J.S. (2001). Almost Like a Whale: The Origin of Species Updated. (American title: Darwin's Ghost). New York: Ballantine Books. ISBN 0-345-42277-5.
• Mader, Sylvia S. (2007). Biology. Murray P. Pendarvis (9th ed.). McGraw Hill. ISBN 978-0-07-325839-3.
• Maynard Smith, J. (1993). The Theory of Evolution: Canto Edition. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-45128-0.
• Pallen, M.J. (2009). The Rough Guide to Evolution. Rough Guides. ISBN 978-1-85828-946-5.

Advanced reading

• Barton, N.H., Briggs, D.E.G., Eisen, J.A., Goldstein, D.B. and Patel, N.H. (2007). Evolution. Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press. ISBN 0-87969-684-2.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
• Coyne, J.A. and Orr, H.A. (2004). Speciation. Sunderland: Sinauer Associates. ISBN 0-87893-089-2.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
• Bergstrom, C.T. and Lee Alan Dugatkin (2011). Evolution. New York: W.W. Norton. ISBN 0-393-92592-7.
• Gould, Stephen J. (2002). The Structure of Evolutionary Theory. Cambridge, MA: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press. ISBN 0-674-00613-5. LCCN 2001043556. OCLC 47869352. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Maynard Smith, J. and Szathmáry, E. (1997). The Major Transitions in Evolution. Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-850294-X.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
• Mayr, Ernst (2001). What Evolution Is. New York: Basic Books. ISBN 0-465-04426-3. LCCN 2001036562. OCLC 47443814. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Minelli A. (2009) – Forms of Becoming. 242 pp. Princeton: Princeton University Press
• Olson, Wendy; Hall, Brian Keith (2003). Keywords and concepts in evolutionary developmental biology. Cambridge: Harvard University Press. ISBN 0-674-02240-8.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)

External links

General information

• Evolution on In Our Time at the BBC
• "Evolution". New Scientist. Retrieved May 30, 2011.
• "Evolution Resources from the National Academies". U.S. National Academy of Sciences. Retrieved May 30, 2011.
• "Understanding Evolution: your one-stop resource for information on Evolution". University of California, Berkeley. Retrieved May 30, 2011.
• "Evolution of Evolution – 150 Years of Darwin's "On the Origin of Species"". National Science Foundation. Retrieved May 30, 2011.

Experiments concerning the process of biological evolution

• Lenski RE. "Experimental Evolution – Michigan State University". Retrieved July 31, 2013.
• Algorithms, games, and evolution, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA

Online lectures

• Carroll SB. "The Making of the Fittest". Retrieved May 30, 2011.
• Stearns SC. "Principles of Evolution, Ecology and Behavior". Retrieved August 30, 2011.