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The modern synthesis (neo-Darwinism)

Ronald FisherJ. B. S. HaldaneSewall WrightTheodosius DobzhanskyErnst MayrJulian Huxley

This page delivers no verdict; it presents claims and evidence with their sources. No theory in science is absolute. Method

For everyone

In the 1930s and 1940s Darwin's natural selection and Mendelian genetics were united through mathematical population genetics. In this framework evolution is the change of gene frequencies in populations through mutation, selection, drift and migration. In 1942 Julian Huxley named this union the "modern synthesis".

For specialists

Fisher (1930), Haldane and Wright modelled mathematically the effects of selection, mutation and drift on gene frequencies. Dobzhansky (1937) brought in laboratory and natural population genetics, Mayr (1942) the biological species concept and geographic speciation, and Simpson (1944) palaeontology. The synthesis assumes that macroevolution can be explained by the accumulation of microevolutionary processes, an assumption that became the main target of later criticism.

Claims

Evidence

Supporting

Theoretical argument

Population-genetic models showed that even small selective advantages can spread an allele through a population over many generations.[2]

Challenging

Methodological critique

Some biologists argued that the synthesis gives too little place to development, phenotypic plasticity, epigenetic inheritance and niche construction.[3]

Connections

Parent

Views on the origin and diversity of living things

Builds on

Mendel and the laws of inheritanceDarwin and Wallace, natural selection

Built upon by

The extended evolutionary synthesis

Argued against by

The neutral theory

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Sources

  1. BookHuxley, J. (1942). Evolution: The Modern Synthesis. George Allen & Unwin, London
  2. BookFisher, R. A. (1930). The Genetical Theory of Natural Selection. Clarendon Press, Oxford
  3. BookPigliucci, M.; Müller, G. B. (eds.) (2010). Evolution: The Extended Synthesis. MIT Press, Cambridge MA

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Cite this page

APA

Athena contributors. (2026). The modern synthesis (neo-Darwinism). Athena: The tree of human knowledge. Retrieved November 1, 2026, from https://latifkedi.github.io/athena/en/d/modern-sentez/

BibTeX
@misc{athena_modern_sentez,
  title        = {The modern synthesis (neo-Darwinism)},
  author       = {{Athena contributors}},
  year         = {2026},
  howpublished = {\url{https://latifkedi.github.io/athena/en/d/modern-sentez/}},
  note         = {Athena: The tree of human knowledge. Accessed: 2026-11-01}
}

Added: September 27, 2026 · Last changed: September 28, 2026 · Page history

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