Evolutionary biology
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/* Topics in evolutionary biology */
{{evolution3}}
'''[[Evolution]]ary biology''' is a sub-field of [[biology]] concerned with the origin of [[species]] from a [[common descent]], and [[descent]] of species; as well as their [[evolution|change]], multiplication, and diversity over time. Someone who studies evolutionary biology is known as an '''evolutionary biologist'''.
==Description==
Evolutionary biology is an [[interdisciplinary]] field because it includes scientists from a wide range of both field and [[Laboratory|lab]] oriented disciplines. For example, it generally includes scientists who may have a specialist training in particular [[organism]]s such as [[mammalogy]], [[ornithology]], or [[herpetology]], but use those organisms as [[Case study|case studies]] to answer general questions in evolution. It also generally includes [[paleontology|paleontologists]] and [[geology|geologists]] who use [[fossils]] to answer questions about the tempo and mode of evolution, as well as theoreticians in areas such as [[population genetics]] and [[evolutionary psychology]]. Experimentalists have used selection in [[Drosophila]] to develop an understanding of the [[evolution of ageing]], and [[experimental evolution]] is a very active subdiscipline.
In the 1990s [[developmental biology]] made a re-entry into evolutionary biology from its initial exclusion from the modern synthesis through the study of [[evolutionary developmental biology]].
Its findings feed strongly into new disciplines that study mankind's [[sociocultural evolution]] and [[evolutionary psychology|evolutionary behavior]]. Evolutionary biology's frameworks of ideas and conceptual tools are now finding application in the study of a range of subjects from [[computing]] to [[nanotechnology]].
[[Artificial life]] is a sub-field of [[bioinformatics]] that attempts to model, or even recreate, the evolution of organisms as described by evolutionary biology. Usually this is done through mathematics and computer models.
== History ==
{{main|History of evolutionary thought}}
Evolutionary biology as an [[academic discipline]] in its own right emerged as a result of the [[modern evolutionary synthesis]] in the 1930s and 1940s. It was not until the 1970s and 1980s, however, that a significant number of universities had departments that specifically included the term ''evolutionary biology'' in their titles. In the [[United States]], as a result of the rapid growth of [[molecular biology|molecular]] and [[cell biology]], many universities have split (or aggregated) their biology departments into ''molecular and cell biology''-style departments and ''ecology and evolutionary biology''-style departments (which often have subsumed older departments in [[paleontology]], [[zoology]] and the like).
[[Microbiology]] has recently developed into an evolutionary discipline. It was originally ignored due to the paucity of morphological traits and the lack of a species concept in microbiology. Now, evolutionary researchers are taking advantage of our extensive understanding of microbial physiology, the ease of microbial [[genomics]], and the quick generation time of some microbes to answer evolutionary questions. Similar features have led to progress in [[virus|viral]] evolution, particularly for [[bacteriophage]].
==Notable evolutionary biologists==
{{main|:Category:Evolutionary biologists}}
Notable contributors to evolutionary biology include:
* [[Charles Darwin]]
* [[Richard D. Alexander]]
* [[William H. Cade]]
* [[Bryan Clarke]]
* [[Jerry Coyne]]
* [[James Crow]]
* [[Jared Diamond]]
* [[Theodosius Dobzhansky]]
* [[Niles Eldredge]]
* [[Ronald Fisher|R.A. Fisher]]
* [[E.B. Ford|Edmund Brisco Ford]]
* [[J.B.S. Haldane]]
* [[Ernst Haeckel]]
* [[W. D. Hamilton|W.D. "Bill" Hamilton]]
* [[Julian Huxley]]
* [[Daniel Janzen]]
* [[Motoo Kimura]]
* [[Jean-Baptiste Lamarck]]
* [[Richard Levins]]
* [[Richard Lewontin]]
* [[Gustave Malécot]]
* [[Pierre Louis Maupertuis]]
* [[Ernst Mayr]]
* [[John Maynard Smith]]
* [[George and Elizabeth Peckham]]
* [[Robert Trivers]]
* [[Alfred Russel Wallace]]
* [[August Weismann]]
* [[George C. Williams]]
* [[Allan Wilson]]
* [[Edward Osborne Wilson]]
* [[Sewall Wright]]
* [[Carl Woese]]
Evolutionary biologists known primarily for their science popularization:
* [[Richard Dawkins]]
* [[Stephen Jay Gould]]
* [[Steve Jones (biologist)|Steve Jones]]
* [[Kenneth R. Miller]]
Notable popularizers of evolution whose research isn't primarily concerned with evolutionary biology include:
* [[Daniel Dennett]]
* [[Greg Graffin]]
* [[Steven Pinker]]
* [[Matt Ridley]]
* [[Carl Sagan]]
* [[Peter Atkins]]
* [[Robert Ardrey]]
* [[Michael Ruse]]
== Bibliography ==
=== Textbooks ===
* [[Douglas J. Futuyma]], ''Evolutionary Biology (3rd Edition)'', Sinauer Associates (1998) ISBN 0-87893-189-9
* Douglas J. Futuyma, ''Evolution'', Sinauer Associates (2005) ISBN 0-87893-187-2
* [[Mark Ridley (zoologist)|Mark Ridley]], ''Evolution (3rd edition)'', Blackwell (2003) ISBN 1-4051-0345-0
* [[Scott R. Freeman]] and [[Jon C. Herron]], ''Evolutionary Analysis'', Prentice Hall (2003) ISBN 0-13-101859-0
* [[Michael R. Rose]] and [[Laurence D. Mueller]], ''Evolution and Ecology of the Organism'', Prentice Hall (2005) ISBN 0-13-010404-3
* [[Monroe W. Strickberger]], ''Evolution (3rd Edition)'', Jones & Bartlett Publishers (2000) ISBN 0-7637-1066-0
=== Notable monographs and other works ===
{{main|:Category:Notable publications in evolutionary biology}}
{{main|:List of publications in biology}}
* [[Jean-Baptiste Lamarck]] (1809) ''[[Philosophie Zoologique]]''
* [[Charles Darwin]] (1859) ''[[The Origin of Species]]''
* [[Charles Darwin]] (1871) ''[[The Descent of Man and Selection in Relation to Sex]]''
* [[Ronald Fisher|R.A. Fisher]] (1930) ''[[The Genetical Theory of Natural Selection]]''
* [[J. B. S. Haldane]] (1932) ''[[The Causes of Evolution]]''
* [[Ernst Mayr]] (1941) ''[[Systematics and the Origin of Species]]''
* [[Susumu Ohno]] (1970) ''[[Evolution by gene duplication]]''
* [[Richard Dawkins]] (1976) ''[[The Selfish Gene]]''
* [[Motoo Kimura]] (1983) ''[[The Neutral Theory of Molecular Evolution (monograph)|The Neutral Theory of Molecular Evolution]]''
== Topics in evolutionary biology ==
* [[Foster's rule]]
* [[Muller's ratchet]]
* [[Mutational meltdown]]
* [[Fitness landscape]]
* [[Koinophilia]]
* [[List of evolutionary biology topics|List of other evolutionary biology topics]]
{{portal|Evolutionary biology|Charles Darwin aged 51 crop.jpg|25}}
== See also ==
* [[Artificial selection]]
* [[Computational phylogenetics]]
* [[Evolutionary ecology]]
* [[Evolutionary physiology]]
* [[Evolutionary tree]]
* [[Genetics]]
* [[Phylogenetic comparative methods]]
* [[Phylogenetics]]
* [[Quantitative genetics]]
* [[Selective breeding]]
* [[Sexual selection]]
* [[Systematics]]
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[[Category:Evolutionary biology| ]]
[[cs:Evoluční biologie]]
[[es:Biología evolutiva]]
[[fr:Biologie de l'évolution]]
[[id:Biologi evolusioner]]
[[it:Biologia evolutiva]]
[[mk:Еволутивна биологија]]
[[nl:Evolutiebiologie]]
[[ja:進化生物学]]
[[pl:Ewolucja biologiczna]]
[[pt:Biologia evolutiva]]
[[tr:Evrimsel biyoloji]]
[[zh:演化生物學]]