The Major Transitions in Evolution
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'''''The Major Transitions in Evolution''''' is a book written by [[John Maynard Smith]] and [[Eörs Szathmáry]] ([[Oxford University Press]], 1995).
{| class="wikitable" border="0" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="0" width="75%" style="font-size:100%"
|-
! colspan="3" | Transitions described in the book
|-
! Transition from:
! Transition to:
! Notes
|-
| [[Replicating molecule]]s
| "Populations" of [[molecule]]s in compartments
| Can't observe
|-
| Independent replicators (probably [[RNA]])
| [[Chromosomes]]
| [[RNA world hypothesis]]
|-
| RNA as both [[gene]]s and [[enzyme]]s
| [[DNA]] as genes; [[protein]]s as enzymes
|
|-
| [[Prokaryote]]s
| [[Eukaryote]]s
| Can observe
|-
| [[Asexuality|Asexual]] [[cloning|clones]]
| [[Sex]]ual [[population]]s
| [[Evolution of sex]]
|-
| [[Protist]]s
| [[Multicellular organism]]s — [[animal]]s, [[plant]]s, [[fungus|fungi]]
| [[Evolution of multicellularity]]
|-
| Solitary individuals
| [[Colony (biology)|Colonies]] with non-reproductive [[caste]]s
|
|-
| [[Primate]] societies
| [[Human]] societies with [[language]], enabling [[meme]]s
| [[Sociocultural evolution]]
|}
Maynard Smith and Szathmary identified several properties common to the transitions:
# Smaller entities have often come about together to form larger entities. e.g. [[Chromosome]]s, [[eukaryote]]s, sex multicellular colonies.
# Smaller entities often become differentiated as part of a larger entity. e.g. [[DNA]] & [[protein]], organelles, anisogamy, tissues, castes
# The smaller entities are often unable to replicate in the absence of the larger entity. e.g. Organelles, tissues, castes
# The smaller entities can sometimes disrupt the development of the larger entity e.g. Meiotic drive (selfish non-Mendelian genes), parthenogenesis, cancers, coup d’état
# New ways of transmitting information have arisen.e.g. DNA-protein, cell heredity, epigenesis, [[universal grammar]].
==See also==
* [[Metasystem transition]], a related notion developed by [[Valentin Turchin]] in 1977.
* [[Origin of life]]
* [[Social evolution]]
[[Category:Evolutionary biology literature|Major Transitions in Evolution, The]]
[[Category:1995 books|Major Transitions in Evolution, The]]
[[Category:Superorganisms]]