Evolutionary biology
Evolutionary biology is a subfield of
biology concerned with the origin and descent of
species, as well as their
change, multiplication, and diversity over time. One who studies evolutionary biology is known as an
evolutionary biologist, or less formally, an
evolutionist.
Evolutionary biology is an
interdisciplinary field because it includes scientists from a wide range of both field and
lab oriented disciplines. For example, it generally includes scientists who may have a specialist training in particular
organisms such as
mammalogy,
ornithology, or
herpetology, but use those organisms as
case studies to answer general questions in evolution. It also generally includes
paleontologists and
geologists who use
fossils to answer questions about the tempo and mode of evolution, as well as theoreticians in areas such as
population genetics. 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 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 subfield 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.
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 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 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
viral evolution, particularly for
bacteriophage.
Notable contributors to evolutionary biology include:
*
Charles Darwin*
James F. Crow*
Richard D. Alexander*
Theodosius Dobzhansky*
Niles Eldredge*
R.A. Fisher*
Stephen Jay Gould*
J.B.S. Haldane*
Ernst Haeckel*
W.D. "Bill" Hamilton*
Daniel Janzen*
Motoo Kimura*
Jean-Baptiste Lamarck*
Richard Levins*
Richard Lewontin*
Gustave Malécot*
Pierre Louis Maupertuis*
Ernst Mayr*
John Maynard Smith*
Robert Trivers*
Alfred Russel Wallace*
August Weismann*
George C. Williams*
Allan Wilson*
Edward Osborne Wilson*
Sewall Wright*
Carl WoeseEvolutionary biologists known primarily for their science popularization:
*
Richard Dawkins*
Steve Jones*
Kenneth R. MillerNotable 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 ArdreyTextbooks
*
Douglas J. Futuyma,
Evolutionary Biology (3rd Edition), Sinauer Associates (1998) ISBN 0878931899
* Douglas J. Futuyma,
Evolution, Sinauer Associates (2005) ISBN 0878931872
*
Mark Ridley,
Evolution (3rd edition), Blackwell (2003) ISBN 1405103450
*
Scott R. Freeman and
Jon C. Herron,
Evolutionary Analysis, Prentice Hall (2003) ISBN 0131018590
*
Michael R. Rose and
Laurence D. Mueller,
Evolution and Ecology of the Organism, Prentice Hall (2005) ISBN 0130104043
*
Monroe W. Strickberger,
Evolution (3rd Edition), Jones & Bartlett Publishers (2000) ISBN 0763710660
Notable monographs and other works
*
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*
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*
Motoo Kimura (1983)
The Neutral Theory of Molecular Evolution*
Foster's rule*
Muller's ratchet*
Mutational meltdown*
Fitness landscape*
List of other evolutionary biology topics*
Mystery of color vision and fundamental questions in philosophy About evolution of color vision and knowledge
*
Mystery of beauty sense and evolution of needs About evolution of beauty sense, colorful feather of birds, and human needs
