macroevolution
Large-scale biological transformation
Macroevolution refers to evolutionary change at or above the species level—the emergence of new species, genera, or higher taxonomic groups over geological time.
It encompasses large-scale patterns like the diversification of mammals after the dinosaurs or the evolution of flight in birds.
Distinguished from microevolution, which describes smaller genetic changes within populations, macroevolution is sometimes invoked in debates about whether small changes can accumulate into the dramatic transformations seen in the fossil record.
Earth's age measured in eras
- deep timeImmense spans of Earth's history
- PrecambrianEarliest geological eon
- PaleozoicEarly complex-life epoch
- MesozoicAge of Reptiles
Cenozoic · Cambrian explosion · mass extinction · fossil record · stratigraphy · radiometric dating · eons · eras
Classification by common descent
- common ancestorOrigin point of descendants
- cladeMonophyletic taxonomic group
- lineageDescent from progenitors
- branchingSplitting into separate directions
systematics · taxonomy · homology · analogy · ancestry · outgroup · tree of life · coalescence
Formation of distinct species
- divergenceSeparation from common origin
- population bottleneckDrastic reduction limiting hereditary variety
- gene flowAllele transfer between populations
- genetic driftRandom allele frequency change
Directing into fixed courses
- evolvabilityCapacity to change over generations
- modularityDivisibility into independent units
- Hox genesDevelopmental patterning master switches
- body planOrganism's fundamental structural arrangement
Philosophy of incremental change
- stasisState of inactivity
- disparityMeasurable difference between things
- living fossilsEvolutionarily static organisms
geological time
Earth's age measured in eras
- deep timeImmense spans of Earth's history
- PrecambrianEarliest geological eon
- PaleozoicEarly complex-life epoch
Mesozoic · Cenozoic · Cambrian explosion · mass extinction · fossil record · stratigraphy · radiometric dating · eons · eras · periods
cladistics
Classification by common descent
- common ancestorOrigin point of descendants
- cladeMonophyletic taxonomic group
- lineageDescent from progenitors
branching · systematics · taxonomy · homology · analogy · ancestry · outgroup · tree of life · coalescence
speciation
Formation of distinct species
- divergenceSeparation from common origin
- population bottleneckDrastic reduction limiting hereditary variety
- gene flowAllele transfer between populations
canalization
Directing into fixed courses
- evolvabilityCapacity to change over generations
- modularityDivisibility into independent units
- Hox genesDevelopmental patterning master switches
gradualism
Philosophy of incremental change
- stasisState of inactivity
- disparityMeasurable difference between things
- living fossilsEvolutionarily static organisms
- evolutionnatural selection, mutation, adaptation, speciation, fitness
- origins debatecreationism, intelligent design, creation science, Darwinism, young earth
- creationismcreation, creator, young earth, creation science, creation story
- macroevolutionspeciation, extinction, fossil record, common descent, phylogeny
- paleontologydinosaurs, fossil, paleontology, fossil record, dinosaur bones
- phylogeneticscladogram, clade, phylogeny, phylogenetics, cladistics
macroevolutionspecial creation
Deity-formed life doctrine
creationism · intelligent design · divine creation · essentialism · stasis