Portal:Evolutionary biology

The Evolutionary Biology Portal

Introduction

Evolutionary biology is the subfield of biology that studies the evolutionary processes such as natural selection, common descent, and speciation that produced the diversity of life on Earth. In the 1930s, the discipline of evolutionary biology emerged through what Julian Huxley called the modern synthesis of understanding, from previously unrelated fields of biological research, such as genetics and ecology, systematics, and paleontology.

The investigational range of current research has widened to encompass the genetic architecture of adaptation, molecular evolution, and the different forces that contribute to evolution, such as sexual selection, genetic drift, and biogeography. The newer field of evolutionary developmental biology ("evo-devo") investigates how embryogenesis is controlled, thus yielding a wider synthesis that integrates developmental biology with the fields of study covered by the earlier evolutionary synthesis. (Full article...)

Selected article -

Darwin, c. 1854, when he was preparing On the Origin of Species

Charles Robert Darwin (/ˈdɑːrwɪn/ DAR-win; 12 February 1809 – 19 April 1882) was an English naturalist, geologist, and biologist, widely known for his contributions to evolutionary biology. His proposition that all species of life have descended from a common ancestor is now generally accepted and considered a fundamental scientific concept. In a joint presentation with Alfred Russel Wallace, he introduced his scientific theory that this branching pattern of evolution resulted from a process he called natural selection, in which the struggle for existence has a similar effect to the artificial selection involved in selective breeding. Darwin has been described as one of the most influential figures in human history and was honoured by burial in Westminster Abbey.

Darwin's early interest in nature led him to neglect his medical education at the University of Edinburgh; instead, he helped to investigate marine invertebrates. His studies at the University of Cambridge's Christ's College from 1828 to 1831 encouraged his passion for natural science. However, it was his five-year voyage on HMS Beagle from 1831 to 1836 that truly established Darwin as an eminent geologist. The observations and theories he developed during his voyage supported Charles Lyell's concept of gradual geological change. Publication of his journal of the voyage made Darwin famous as a popular author. (Full article...)

List of selected articles

General images -

The following are images from various evolutionary biology-related articles on Wikipedia.

Image 1Turing's 1952 paper explained mathematically how patterns such as stripes and spots, as in the giant pufferfish, may arise, without molecular evidence. (from Evolutionary developmental biology)
Image 2Cichlids such as Haplochromis nyererei diversified by sympatric speciation in the Rift Valley lakes. (from Speciation)
Image 3Male Drosophila pseudoobscura (from Speciation)
Image 4A gene regulatory network (from Evolutionary developmental biology)
Image 5Expression of homeobox (Hox) genes in the fruit fly (from Evolutionary developmental biology)
Image 6The structure of a eukaryotic protein-coding gene. A mutation in the protein coding region (red) can result in a change in the amino acid sequence. Mutations in other areas of the gene can have diverse effects. Changes within regulatory sequences (yellow and blue) can effect transcriptional and translational regulation of gene expression. (from Mutation)
Image 7Comparison of allopatric, peripatric, parapatric and sympatric speciation (from Speciation)
Image 8Gap genes in the fruit fly are switched on by genes such as bicoid, setting up stripes across the embryo which start to pattern the body's segments. (from Evolutionary developmental biology)
Image 9Gene product distributions along the long axis of the early embryo of a fruit fly (from Evolutionary developmental biology)
Image 10Embryology theories of Ernst Haeckel, who argued for recapitulation of evolutionary development in the embryo, and Karl Ernst von Baer's epigenesis (from Evolutionary developmental biology)
Image 11The distribution of fitness effects (DFE) of mutations in vesicular stomatitis virus. In this experiment, random mutations were introduced into the virus by site-directed mutagenesis, and the fitness of each mutant was compared with the ancestral type. A fitness of zero, less than one, one, more than one, respectively, indicates that mutations are lethal, deleterious, neutral, and advantageous. (from Mutation)
Image 12A. Lancelet (a chordate), B. Larval tunicate, C. Adult tunicate. Kowalevsky saw that the notochord (1) and gill slits (5) are shared by tunicates and vertebrates. (from Evolutionary developmental biology)
Image 13Selection of disease-causing mutations, in a standard table of the genetic code of amino acids (from Mutation)
Image 14Three major single-chromosome mutations: deletion (1), duplication (2) and inversion (3). (from Mutation)
Image 15A mutation has caused this moss rose plant to produce flowers of different colours. This is a somatic mutation that may also be passed on in the germline. (from Mutation)
Image 16A covalent adduct between the metabolite of benzo[a]pyrene, the major mutagen in tobacco smoke, and DNA (from Mutation)
Image 17This figure shows a simplified version of loss-of-function, switch-of-function, gain-of-function, and conservation-of-function mutations. (from Mutation)
Image 18Homologous Hox genes in such different animals as insects and vertebrates control embryonic development and hence the form of adult bodies. These genes have been highly conserved through hundreds of millions of years of evolution. (from Evolutionary developmental biology)
Image 19The lac operon. Top: repressed. Bottom: active. (1) RNA Polymerase, (2) Repressor, (3) Promoter, (4) Operator, (5) Lactose, (6–8) protein-encoding genes, controlled by the switch, that cause lactose to be digested. (from Evolutionary developmental biology)
Image 20Point mutations classified by impact on protein (from Mutation)
Image 21Reinforcement assists speciation by selecting against hybrids. (from Speciation)
Image 22The pax-6 gene controls development of eyes of different types across the animal kingdom. (from Evolutionary developmental biology)
Image 23Rhagoletis pomonella, the hawthorn fly, appears to be in the process of sympatric speciation. (from Speciation)
Image 24Types of small-scale mutations (from Mutation)
Image 25Gaur (Indian bison) can interbreed with domestic cattle. (from Speciation)
Image 26A red tulip exhibiting a partially yellow petal due to a somatic mutation in a cell that formed that petal (from Mutation)
Image 27Among the centipedes, all members of the Geophilomorpha are constrained by a developmental bias to have an odd number of segments, whether as few as 27 or as many as 191. (from Evolutionary developmental biology)
Image 28Speciation via polyploidy: A diploid cell undergoes failed meiosis, producing diploid gametes, which self-fertilize to produce a tetraploid zygote. In plants, this can effectively be a new species, reproductively isolated from its parents, and able to reproduce. (from Speciation)
Image 29Prodryas persephone, a Late Eocene butterfly (from Mutation)
Image 30Phyletic gradualism, above, consists of relatively slow change over geological time. Punctuated equilibrium, bottom, consists of morphological stability and rare, relatively rapid bursts of evolutionary change. (from Speciation)
Image 31African pygmy kingfisher, showing coloration shared by all adults of that species to a high degree of fidelity. (from Speciation)
Image 32Five types of chromosomal mutations (from Mutation)

Selected picture -

The image depicts the duplication of part of a chromosome.

Did you know... -

... that despite the relative rarity of suitable conditions for fossilization, approximately 250,000 fossil species are known?
... that all forms of natural speciation have taken place over the course of evolution, though it still remains a subject of debate as to the relative importance of each mechanism in driving biodiversity?
... that Perfect Imperfection, a 2004 science fiction novel by Polish writer Jacek Dukaj, raises the issues of technological singularity, transhumanism and the anthropic principle, and presents a unique model of human evolution?

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