# Lineage
> **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 / Provenance / Continuity
**Doc Type:** Canonical Wiki Node
**Maturity:** Developed
## Definition
A lineage is a sequence or branching set of entities connected by descent or derivation.
## Machine-Evolution Context
Lineage supplies provenance for biological organisms, digital organisms, software forks and reconstructed persons. It can preserve a causal history through substantial change.
## Continuity and Evidence Boundary
Lineage continuity is weaker than numerical identity. Two forks may share an ancestor while becoming distinct continuants with separate claims and obligations.
## Relationships
[[wiki/Descent with Modification|Descent with Modification]], [[wiki/Branching Descent|Branching Descent]], [[wiki/Provenance|Provenance]], [[wiki/Forked Continuity|Forked Continuity]]
## Sources / Provenance
- Evolutionary systematics; continuity-corpus synthesis.