Catagenesis is a somewhat archaic term from

evolutionary biology Evolutionary biology is the subfield of biology that studies the evolutionary processes ( natural selection, common descent, speciation) that produced the diversity of life on Earth. It is also defined as the study of the history of life ...

referring to evolutionary directions that were considered " retrogressive." It was a term used in contrast to

anagenesis Anagenesis is the gradual evolution of a species that continues to exist as an interbreeding population. This contrasts with cladogenesis, which occurs when there is branching or splitting, leading to two or more lineages and resulting in separate ...

, which in present usage denotes the evolution of a single population into a new form without branching lines of descent.

References

Evolutionary biology {{evolution-stub

See also

References