Macroevolution
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from gr. μακρός (makrós), meaning “large, long,” and from the Latin evolutio, meaning “unfolding”
Set of evolutionary processes and events, evidenced by fossil records, that determine the origin and development of the major systematic categories (families, orders, classes, etc.), and require a long period of time to unfold and take effect.
It differs from microevolution which consists of the set of evolutionary processes that occur up to the specieslevel, leading to speciation and changes in gene frequencies within natural populations.
Browse the in-depth slides (currently available in Italian)
Credits and acknowledgments
Special thanks to Damiano Furlan and Domenico Marchitelli for creating the slides.