A phylogenetic tree of living things, speculatively based on rRNA data, showing the separation of bacteria, archaea, and eukaryotes. Trees constructed with other genes are generally similar, although they may place some early-branching groups very differently, thanks to long branch attraction. The exact relationships of the three domains are still being debated, as is the position of the root of the tree. It has also been suggested that due to lateral gene transfer, a tree may not be the best representation of the genetic relationships of all organisms.
This article is about evolution in biology. ... In biology, mutations are changes to the base pair sequence of genetic material (either DNA or RNA). ... The modern evolutionary synthesis (often referred to simply as the new synthesis, the modern synthesis, the evolutionary synthesis, neo-Darwinian synthesis or neo-Darwinism), generally denotes the integration of Charles Darwins theory of the evolution of species by natural selection, Gregor Mendels theory of genetics as the basis... The theory of transmutation had early origins in the speculations and hypotheses of Erasmus Darwin, and Jean-Baptiste Lamarck. ... Although the modern synthesis of biological evolution is a major achievement of modern science and has spawned the development of the field of evolutionary biology, some aspects of it are often misunderstood. ...