> [!infobox] <s class="aside-in"><em>mentioned in 15 topics, 23 evergreens, 2 sources</em></s> #### <s class="topic-title">[[Evolution]]</s> the process by which different kinds of living organism are believed to have developed from earlier forms during the history of the earth. > ![[10_Sources/books - Darwin's Cathedral#292550149q]] > [!wikipedia] [Evolution](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evolution) > > Evolution is change in the heritable characteristics of biological populations over successive generations. > These characteristics are the expressions of genes that are passed on from parent to offspring during reproduction. Evolution occurs when evolutionary processes such as [[natural selection]] (including [[sexual selection]]) and genetic drift act on this variation, resulting in certain characteristics becoming more common or rare within a [[population]]. > > The circumstances that determine whether a characteristic should be common or rare within a population constantly change, resulting in the change in heritable characteristics arising over successive generations. > > Evolution by [[natural selection]] was first demonstrated by the observation that more offspring are often produced than can possibly survive. This is followed by three observable facts about living organisms: (1) traits vary among individuals with respect to their morphology, physiology and behaviour (phenotypic variation), (2) different traits confer different rates of survival and reproduction (differential fitness) and (3) traits can be passed from generation to generation (heritability of fitness). > > In the early 20th century, other competing ideas of evolution such as mutationism and orthogenesis were refuted as the modern synthesis reconciled Darwinian evolution with classical [[genetics]], which established adaptive evolution as being caused by natural selection acting on Mendelian genetic variation. > > All life on Earth shares a last universal common ancestor (LUCA) that lived approximately 3.5–3.8 billion years ago. **See**:: [[Evolutionary Psychology]] #### Related - [[Adaptations are only clear when studied at the correct scale]] - [[Cultural evolution is not confined to the slow process of genetic evolution]] - [[Farming prevented a return to foraging for early humans]] - [[Group selection solves the fundamental problem of social life]] - [[How can something be adaptive and net bad]] - [[Humans are a product of evolution]] - [[Individual selection is an emergent mechanic of group selection]] - [[Natural selection can be seen within generations]] - [[Natural selection is a designing agent]] - [[Proximate explanation never substitutes for ultimate explanation in Evolution]] - [[The immune system is adaptive]] - [[We will evolve when we make learning as easy as thinking]] - [[What is the link between evolution and social behavior]] - [[What is the origin of life]]