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Evolution at different scales: micro to macro
by the Understanding Evolution team
Evolution encompasses changes of vastly different scales — from something
as insignificant as an increase in the frequency of the gene for dark wings in beetles
from one generation to the next, to something as grand as the evolution and radiation
of the dinosaur lineage. These two extremes represent classic examples of micro- and
macroevolution.
Microevolution happens on a small scale (within a single population), while macroevolution
happens on a scale that transcends the boundaries of a single species. Despite their
differences, evolution at both of these levels relies on the same, established mechanisms
of evolutionary change:
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