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Organic evolution
 | | Sections: Study of evolution; History; Mechanisms of species transformation; Genetic variation; Sources of genetic variation; Natural selection; Random genetic drift; Drift versus selection; Speciation and cladogenesis; Adaptations; Origin of higher taxa; Rates of evolution; Evolutionary trends |
| Organic, or biological, evolution is the modification of living organisms during their descent, generation by generation, from common ancestors. It is to be distinguished from other phenomena to which the term evolution is often applied, such as chemical evolution, cultural evolution, or the origin of life from nonliving matter. Organic evolution includes two major processes: anagenesis, the alteration of the genetic properties of a single lineage over time; and cladogenesis, or branching, whereby a single lineage splits into two or more distinct lineages that continue to change anagenetically. |
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