= Evolution
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<Evolution> is descent with inherited modification. Within a population, changes in <allele frequencies> provide a precise genetic description; over longer histories, branching descent connects populations through <common descent>. An individual growing larger is <biological development>, whereas an inherited variant becoming more frequent across generations is <evolution>. See https://evolution.berkeley.edu/evolution-101/an-introduction-to-evolution/[UC Museum of Paleontology: the definition of evolution].
<Mutation> supplies new <alleles>, <genetic recombination> reshuffles inherited material, <natural selection> favors variants with greater reproductive contribution in a specified environment, and <genetic drift> changes frequencies through chance. <Gene flow> moves variants between populations. Consequently, an increasing <allele frequency> alone does not identify <natural selection>. See https://openstax.org/books/biology-2e/pages/19-2-population-genetics[Clark, Douglas and Choi, Biology 2e: population genetics].
Evidence includes ordered <fossils>, shared inherited structures and similarities in <DNA>; <phylogenetics> uses such observations to infer relationships. A <phylogenetic tree> is an inferred historical account, with uncertainty about particular branches. See https://openstax.org/books/biology-2e/pages/18-1-understanding-evolution[Clark, Douglas and Choi, Biology 2e: evidence of evolution]. Evidence also comes from experiments: Blount, Borland and Lenski reported an <Escherichia coli> lineage able to use <citrate> with <oxygen> present by 31,500 generations, and tested historical dependence by replaying <evolution> from stored ancestors. See https://www.blount-lab.org/uploads/2/3/0/3/23037222/2008_pnas_blount_et_al.pdf[Blount, Borland and Lenski, 2008: original experimental report]. Such observations constrain explanations; no single frequency equation captures every evolutionary process.
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