What does it mean "the course of evolution" in the following context?

Question

I've read the following context which mentions the word "course of evolution" and I don't think that the meaning is in the simple meaning of course, like a course in the university. It seems to me something like "part of time" or period, but I am not sure even though I checked the definition in the dictionary, but to be honest it's not clear to me (probably because I'm non Native English speaker)

"Our starting point for exploring the nervous system is the neuron, a cell type exemplifying the close fit of form and function that often arises over the course of evolution"

Answer 1

In LDOCE, one of the senses concerns development which is singular and is the usual or natural way that something changes, develops, or is done as in,

forces that shape the course of evolution

Meeting Sally changed the whole course of his life.

Although the collocation that has been used for course in your example is over. Course in the sense of a period of time or process during which something happens normally collocates with during/in/throughout/over as in,

Over the course of the next few years, the steel industry was reorganized.