Evolution on a scale at or above the level of species
Macroevolution usually means the evolution of large-scale structures and traits that go significantly beyond the intraspecific variation found in microevolution (including speciation ).[ 1] [ 2] [ 3] In other words, macroevolution is the evolution of taxa above the species level (genera , families , orders , etc.).[ 4]
Macroevolution is often thought to require the evolution of completely new structures such as entirely new organs . However, fundamentally novel structures are not necessary for dramatic evolutionary change. For instance, the evolution of mammal diversity in the past 100 million years has not required any major innovation.[ 5] All of this diversity can be explained by modification of existing organs, such as the evolution of elephant tusks from canine teeth .
^ Stanley, S. M. (1 February 1975). "A theory of evolution above the species level" . Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences . 72 (2): 646–50. Bibcode :1975PNAS...72..646S . doi :10.1073/pnas.72.2.646 . ISSN 0027-8424 . PMC 432371 . PMID 1054846 .
^ Gould, Stephen Jay (2002). The structure of evolutionary theory . Cambridge, Mass.: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press . ISBN 0-674-00613-5 . OCLC 47869352 .
^ Hautmann, Michael (2020). "What is macroevolution?" . Palaeontology . 63 (1): 1–11. Bibcode :2020Palgy..63....1H . doi :10.1111/pala.12465 . ISSN 0031-0239 .
^ Philiptschenko, J. (1927). Variabilität und Variation . Berlin: Borntraeger .
^ Meredith, R. W.; Janecka, J. E.; Gatesy, J.; Ryder, O. A.; Fisher, C. A.; Teeling, E. C.; Goodbla, A.; Eizirik, E.; Simao, T. L. L.; Stadler, T.; Rabosky, D. L.; Honeycutt, R. L.; Flynn, J. J.; Ingram, C. M.; Steiner, C. (28 October 2011). "Impacts of the Cretaceous Terrestrial Revolution and KPg Extinction on Mammal Diversification" . Science . 334 (6055): 521–524. Bibcode :2011Sci...334..521M . doi :10.1126/science.1211028 . ISSN 0036-8075 . PMID 21940861 . S2CID 38120449 .