Macroevolution and microevolution differ in thatthat the first term describes changes at the level of species, and the second - supraspecific evolution. Such definitions are called irreversible processes of transformation of the organism of living beings, adapting to environmental conditions.
What do the terms have in common?
When describing the differences in terms of "macroevolution"and "microevolution" an important place is occupied by the scale of the processes. The time required to change organisms is taken into account. Macroscopic indicators consist of numerous microprocesses.
Macroevolution and microevolution are a set of events leading to the appearance of systematic groups:
- detachments;
- childbirth;
- types or divisions;
- families.
All of these groups have similarities:they come from one state. Gradually adapting to the surrounding conditions, they change and become dissimilar to the original forms. And the more time passes, the more noticeable the difference within the species.
The process of evolution consists in the irreversible change of natural organisms, leading to the formation of the following states:
- genetics change;
- the formation of adaptations to new living conditions;
- the formation of new species;
- biogeocenosis transformation;
- extinction of pre-existing species;
- change in the biosphere as a whole.
What caused the semantic differences of terms?
The change in the population of a particular species leads to the fact that macroevolution and microevolution occur. Differences of definitions:
- The first definition is used to describe global biological change. The formation of geographical subspecies belongs to it, but it cannot begin without microevolution.
- Global processes of macroevolution last tens, hundreds of millions of years. The period of biological changes in microevolution is thousands of years.
The theory of microevolution considers the processes of adaptation of a population to changing environmental conditions.
Often the process of developing a species at the same timedescribed as macroevolution and microevolution. Similarities and differences of existing theories are needed to summarize the studied indicators in the development of biological species.
Highlights of the two types of development
You can see the same processes in suchtheories like macroevolution and microevolution. Comparing the two types of development gives reason to think about the same principle of consideration of biological evolution. In the first case, the formation of newly appeared genera, species is observed. And in the second, similar judgments are carried out in identifying mutations, gene drift, and migration of living organisms.
Theories of macro and microevolutions are based oncreating certain points of view in studying the development of biological species, which allows for a detailed analysis of the long-term development of living organisms. For a more complete description of the species, the term “isolating factors” is used. These include conditions affecting evolution:
- changing the flow of the river makes fish and other underwater inhabitants adapt to the new environment;
- the habitat of birds is affected by the movement of the earth's crust, when a new mountain range is formed;
- Global warming leads to an increase in the temperature of ocean currents, which affects the life of both underwater creatures and animals on the continents.
To adapt to the new conditions, living beings will need to change at the level of microevolution.
Global change
Comparing the concepts of "macroevolution" and“microevolution”, we can conclude: the result of global change depends on a set of accidents that occur at the molecular level. Each slowly proceeding process at some time can turn into super-macroevolution. However, this occurs over a very long period of time.
In theory, macroevolution is consideredpatterns of development of the organic world. According to the statistics one can make a clear and generalized picture of the evolutionary change of biological species. The main trends and directions are clearly differentiated, which is difficult to do when studying only microevolution.
Global events examples
Macroevolution theory considers processeslasting a million years. These include the emergence of vertebrate creatures on land, the process of transition of a person from walking on all fours to a two-legged position of movement. These events are accompanied by significant changes in species both at the gene level and externally.
Internal changes
Macroevolution and microevolution are interdependent. The first global process may be modified by the following factors:
- genetic differentiation;
- hereditary variability;
- isolation under the influence of the directing action of natural selection.
The theory of microevolution raises questionschanges within the species, when some living creatures begin to stand out by the physical structure due to some factors and form a new subspecies. To simplify the classification of events, an elementary unit of evolution is used - the population.
Microevolutionary processes can occur withisolation of individual populations, selection from the parent subspecies in separate species. So it can happen when one kind of biological creature breaks down into two separate states.
Examples of intraspecific events
The following events relate to microevolution:
- adaptation of the rodents' digestive system to new poisons and chemicals (this process is quite fast - only a few years);
- change of the whole gene pool of a separate species, which is called the phyletic evolution;
- microevolution can be found in various species: in birds and bats, these are wings, in fishes and sea creatures — fins and gills, in amphibians, both are observed;
- similar processes can be found in animals that are separated from each other on systematic grounds: there are gills in fish and lobster or crab, and the extremities of the bear are similar in structure to the legs of a mole;
- the limbs of animals that live on trees are similar in structure and purpose.
Ways of development of species
The definition "view" includes an extensive list of properties:
- Physiological, biological and physico-chemical indicators.
- Individuals have the ability to breed.
- Have the ability to adapt to certain environmental conditions.
- Individuals occupy a certain niche in the food chain.
In micro and macroevolution, criteria are used to evaluate species:
- Morphological.
- Physiological.
- Biochemical.
- Genetic.
- Geographical.
- Ecological.
Вид относится к наименьшей генетической единице и comparable to the population, when one individual is able to interbreed with another. In this case, a part of the biological code is transmitted for procreation. This is how new types are created.
To change a species, it is necessary to form suitable conditions under the influence of events: isolation from an aggressive environment, patterns of natural selection, mutations, and wave-like change of populations.
