Evolutionary genetics

10.190.30^Evolutionary genetics

Evolutionary genetics

Evolutionary genetics is the broad field of studies that resulted from the integration of genetics and Darwinian evolution, called the ‘modern synthesis’ (Huxley 1942), achieved through the theoretical works of R. A. Fisher, S. Wright, and J. B. S. Haldane and the conceptual works and influential writings of J. Huxley, T. Dobzhansky, and H.J. Muller. This field attempts to account for evolution in terms of changes in gene and genotype frequencies within populations and the processes that convert the variation with populations into more or less permanent variation between species. In this view, four evolutionary forces (mutation, random genetic drift, natural selection, and gene flow) acting within and among populations cause micro-evolutionary change and these processes are sufficient to account for macro-evolutionary patterns, which arise in the longer term from the collective action of these forces. That is, given very long periods of time, the micro-evolutionary forces will eventually give rise to the macro-evolutionary patterns that characterize the higher taxonomic groups. Thus, the central challenge of Evolutionary Genetics is to describe how the evolutionary forces shape the patterns of biodiversity observed in nature. -- http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/evolutionary-genetics/ Evolution: Change in the relative frequencies of heritable genetic information across generations of organisms. This change can be driven by the deterministic process of natural selection, which acts on genetic variation caused by stochastic mutation processes. Or, evolutionary change can occur via stochastic genetic drift in small populations: drift favours some alleles numerically even though they offer no fitness advantage to their carriers. There exists an important distinction between microevolution, which is change in heritable characteristics within species over short evolutionary timescales, and macroevolution, which is the larger-scale formation of new species during adaptive radiations. http://www.britishecologicalsociety.org/about-ecology/key-concepts-in-ecology/ RD

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