# Evolutionary Theory > **Machine-Evolution Nexus:** [[articles/Digital Darwinism and the Invisible World of Machine Evolution|Digital Darwinism and the Invisible World of Machine Evolution]] places this concept within the history and governance of substrate-independent evolution. **Domain:** Evolution / Explanatory Framework **Doc Type:** Canonical Wiki Node **Maturity:** Developed ## Definition Evolutionary theory explains population change, common descent, adaptation and diversification through mechanisms including mutation, selection, drift, recombination, gene flow and developmental constraint. ## Machine-Evolution Context The article uses the theory as an instrument: a digital system counts as Darwinian only when an inheritance channel, heritable variation, differential reproduction or persistence, constraint and iterated generations can be identified. ## Continuity and Evidence Boundary Evolutionary lineage continuity is not numerical personal continuity. A descendant can preserve structure and history while remaining a different subject. ## Relationships [[wiki/Evolutionary Biology|Evolutionary Biology]], [[wiki/Natural Selection|Natural Selection]], [[wiki/Population|Population]], [[wiki/Lineage|Lineage]] ## Sources / Provenance - Charles Darwin, _On the Origin of Species_ (1859); Douglas Futuyma and Mark Kirkpatrick, _Evolution_.