Can Evolution Be Sped up?

Human evolution is often thought of as slow, taking many generations for new traits to emerge. However, evidence suggests that admixture, the exchange of genes between populations previously isolated from one another, can cause rapid adaptations.

Can evolution happen quickly?

CORRECTION: Evolution occurs slowly and gradually, but it can also occur rapidly. ... Many different factors can foster rapid evolution — small population size, short generation time, big shifts in environmental conditions — and the evidence makes it clear that this has happened many times.

Is evolution slowing down or speeding up?

Far from slowing down, human evolution has sped up in the past 40,000 years and has become 100 times faster in the past 5000 years alone, according to the analysis.