What Is Evolution ?
What Is Evolution ?
复制标题
什么是进化论？
DOI：
10.2307/j.ctv7h0s6j.6
复制
发表时间：
2013
影响因子：
2
通讯作者：
J. Losos
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
J. Losos
进化是指随着时间的推移，物种变得修改和分歧，产生多个后代物种。进化和自然选择经常被混为一谈，但进化是变化的历史发生，而自然选择是一种机制--在大多数情况下是最重要的--可以导致进化。近年来，进化生物学领域蓬勃发展，人们对进化的原因和后果有了很多了解。进化论知识的两个主要支柱来自于对进化变化历史记录的了解，直接从化石记录中推导出来，从对生物发生学的研究中推断出来，以及来自于对进化变化过程的研究，特别是自然选择的影响。现在很明显，当选择很强时，进化可以比达尔文通常设想的要快得多。因此，科学家们意识到在真实的时间里进行进化实验是可能的。包括分子生物学和发育生物学在内的许多领域的最新发展极大地扩展了我们的知识，并重申了进化论在理解生物多样性方面的中心地位。
Evolution refers to change through time as species become modified and diverge to produce multiple descendant species. Evolution and natural selection are often conflated, but evolution is the historical occurrence of change, and natural selection is onemechanism—inmost cases the most important—that can cause it. Recent years have seen a flowering in the field of evolutionary biology, andmuch has been learned about the causes and consequences of evolution. The two main pillars of our knowledge of evolution come from knowledge of the historical recordof evolutionary change,deduceddirectly from the fossil record and inferred from examination of phylogeny, and from study of the process of evolutionary change, particularly the effect of natural selection. It is nowapparent thatwhen selection is strong, evolution can proceed considerably more rapidly than was generally envisioned by Darwin. As a result, scientists are realizing that it is possible to conduct evolutionary experiments in real time. Recent developments in many areas, including molecular and developmental biology, have greatly expandedour knowledge and reaffirmed evolution’s central place in the understanding of biological diversity.