Jump to content

Neo-Darwinism: Difference between revisions

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Browse history interactively
← Previous edit
Content deleted Content added
VisualWikitext
No edit summary
Tags: Mobile edit Mobile web edit
JnpoJuwan (talk | contribs)
363 edits
mNo edit summary
 
(28 intermediate revisions by 23 users not shown)
Line 1: Line 1:
{{Short description|Used to describe the combination of natural selection and genetics}}
⚫
[[File:George John Romanes, photograph by Elliott & Fry.jpg|thumb|[[George John Romanes]] originally used ''Neo-Darwinism'' in 1895 to refer to an early modification of Darwin's theory. Photograph by Elliott & Fry (1896)]]
[[File:L. I. Gardner, Molecular genetics... Wellcome L0000560.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Friedrich Leopold August Weismann]], considered the "founder of Neo-Darwinism" for expanding Darwin's theory along genetic lines]]
⚫
'''Neo-Darwinism''' is generally used to describe any integration of [[Charles Darwin]]'s theory of evolution by natural selection with [[Gregor Mendel]]'s theory of genetics. It mostly refers to [[Evolution|evolutionary]] theory from either 1895 (for the combinations of Darwin's and [[August Weismann]]'s theories of evolution) or 1942 ([[modern synthesis (20th century)|"modern synthesis"]]), but it can mean any new Darwinian- and Mendelian-based theory, such as the current evolutionary theory. The term "Neo-Darwinism" marks the combination of [[natural selection]] and [[genetics]], as has been variously modified since it was first proposed.
⚫
[[File:George John Romanes, photograph by Elliott & Fry.jpg|thumb|upright|[[George John Romanes]] originally used ''Neo-Darwinism'' in 1895 to refer to an early modification of Darwin's theory. Photograph by Elliott & Fry (1896)]]

⚫
'''Neo-Darwinism''' is generally used to describe any integration of [[Charles Darwin]]'s theory of [[evolution]] by [[natural selection]] with [[Gregor Mendel]]'s theory of [[genetics]]. It mostly refers to evolutionary theory from either 1895 (for the combinations of Darwin's and [[August Weismann]]'s theories of evolution) or 1942 ("[[modern synthesis (20th century)|modern synthesis]]"), but it can mean any new Darwinian- and Mendelian-based theory, such as the current evolutionary theory.


==Original use==
==Original use==
[[File:Modern Synthesis.svg|thumb|upright=1.75|Several major ideas about [[evolution]] came together in the [[population genetics]] of the early 20th century to form the so-called [[Modern synthesis (20th century)|modern synthesis]], including [[genetic variation]], [[natural selection]], and particulate ([[Mendelian genetics|Mendelian]]) inheritance. This was at the time called neo-Darwinism.]]
[[File:Modern Synthesis.svg|thumb|upright=1.75|Several major ideas about [[evolution]] came together in the [[population genetics]] of the early 20th century to form the so-called [[Modern synthesis (20th century)|modern synthesis]], including [[genetic variation]], [[natural selection]], and particulate ([[Mendelian genetics|Mendelian]]) inheritance. This was at the time called neo-Darwinism.]]
[[Darwinism|Darwin's theory of evolution]] by natural selection, as published in 1859, provided a selection mechanism for evolution, but not a trait transfer mechanism. [[Lamarckism]] was still a very popular candidate for this. [[August Weismann]] and Wallace rejected the Lamarckian idea of [[inheritance of acquired characteristics]] that Darwin had accepted and later expanded upon in [[The_Variation_of_Animals_and_Plants_under_Domestication|his writings on heredity]].<ref name=Darwin1872/>{{rp|page=[http://darwin-online.org.uk/Variorum/1872/1872-108-dns.html 108]}}<ref name=Darwin1868/><ref name="Kutschera1"/> The basis for the complete rejection of Lamarckism was Weismann's [[germ plasm]] theory. Weismann realised that the cells that produce the germ plasm, or [[gamete]]s (such as [[sperm]] and [[Egg cell|eggs]] in [[animal]]s), separate from the [[Somatic (biology)|somatic]] cells that go on to make other body tissues at an early stage in development. Since he could see no obvious means of communication between the two, he asserted that the inheritance of acquired characteristics was therefore impossible; a conclusion now known as the [[Weismann barrier]].<ref name="Barbieri"/>
[[Darwinism|Darwin's theory of evolution]] by natural selection, as published in 1859, provided a selection mechanism for evolution, but not a trait transfer mechanism. [[Lamarckism]] was still a very popular candidate for this. [[August Weismann]] and [[Alfred Russel Wallace]] rejected the Lamarckian idea of [[inheritance of acquired characteristics]] that Darwin had accepted and later expanded upon in [[The Variation of Animals and Plants Under Domestication|his writings on heredity]].<ref name=Darwin1872/>{{rp|page=[http://darwin-online.org.uk/Variorum/1872/1872-108-dns.html 108]}}<ref name=Darwin1868/><ref name="Kutschera1"/> The basis for the complete rejection of Lamarckism was Weismann's [[germ plasm]] theory. Weismann realised that the cells that produce the germ plasm, or [[gamete]]s (such as [[sperm]] and [[Egg cell|eggs]] in [[animal]]s), separate from the [[Somatic (biology)|somatic]] cells that go on to make other body tissues at an early stage in development. Since he could see no obvious means of communication between the two, he asserted that the inheritance of acquired characteristics was therefore impossible; a conclusion now known as the [[Weismann barrier]].<ref name="Barbieri"/>


It is, however, usually [[George Romanes]] who is credited with the first use of the word in a scientific context. Romanes used the term to describe the combination of [[natural selection]] and Weismann's germ plasm theory that evolution occurs solely through natural selection, and not by the inheritance of acquired characteristics resulting from use or disuse, thus using the word to mean "Darwinism without Lamarckism."<ref name="Gould1"/><ref name = "wallacefund1"/><ref name="Reif"/>
It is, however, usually [[George Romanes]] who is credited with the first use of the word in a scientific context. Romanes used the term to describe the combination of [[natural selection]] and Weismann's germ plasm theory that evolution occurs solely through natural selection, and not by the inheritance of acquired characteristics resulting from use or disuse, thus using the word to mean "Darwinism without Lamarckism."<ref name="Gould1"/><ref name = "wallacefund1"/><ref name="Reif"/>
Line 11: Line 14:


==Current meaning==
==Current meaning==
Biologists, however, have not limited their application of the term neo-Darwinism to the historical modern synthesis. For example, [[Ernst Mayr]] wrote in 1984 that "the term neo-Darwinism for the synthetic theory [the modern synthesis of the early 20th&nbsp;century] is wrong, because the term neo-Darwinism was coined by Romanes in 1895 as a designation of Weismann's theory."<ref name="Mayr"/><ref name="Kutschera"/><ref name="Reif"/><ref name="Pigliucci2007"/>
Biologists, however, have not limited their application of the term ''neo-Darwinism'' to the historical synthesis. For example, [[Ernst Mayr]] wrote in 1984 that:
:The term ''neo-Darwinism'' for the synthetic theory [of the early 20th&nbsp;century] is sometimes considered wrong, because the term neo-Darwinism was coined by Romanes in 1895 as a designation of Weismann's theory.<ref name="Mayr"/><ref name="Kutschera"/><ref name="Reif"/><ref name="Pigliucci2007"/>


Publications such as ''[[Encyclopædia Britannica]]'' similarly use neo-Darwinism to refer to current evolutionary theory, not the version current during the early 20th&nbsp;century synthesis.<ref name="britannica1"/> [[Richard Dawkins]] and [[Stephen Jay Gould]] have used the term in their writings and lectures to denote the forms of evolutionary biology that were contemporary when they were writing.<ref name="YouTube1"/><ref name="Gould2"/>
Publications such as ''[[Encyclopædia Britannica]]'' use ''neo-Darwinism'' to refer to current-consensus evolutionary theory, not the version prevalent during the early 20th&nbsp;century.<ref name="britannica1"/> Similarly, [[Richard Dawkins]] and [[Stephen Jay Gould]] have used ''neo-Darwinism'' in their writings and lectures to denote the forms of evolutionary biology that were contemporary when they were writing.<ref name="YouTube1"/><ref name="Gould2"/>


== See also ==
== See also ==

⚫
{{Portal|Evolutionary biology}}
⚫
* [[History of evolutionary thought]]{{-}}
⚫
{{Wikipedia books|Evolution}}
⚫
* [[History of evolutionary thought]]


==References==
==References==
{{reflist|25em|refs=
{{Reflist|25em|refs=


<!-- not used <ref name = "Butler1880"> {{cite book |last1=Butler |first1=Samuel |authorlink1=Samuel Butler (novelist) |title=Unconscious Memory |year=1880 |publisher=David Bogue |page=[https://archive.org/details/unconsciousmemo00hartgoog/page/n291 280] |url=https://archive.org/details/unconsciousmemo00hartgoog |quote=I may predict with some certainty that before long we shall find the original Darwinism of Dr.&nbsp;[[Erasmus Darwin]] ... generally accepted instead of the neo-Darwinism of to-day, and that the variations whose accumulation results in species will be recognised as due to the wants and endeavours of the living forms in which they appear, instead of being ascribed to chance, or, in other words, to unknown causes, as by Mr.&nbsp;Charles Darwin's system}}</ref> -->
<!-- not used <ref name = "Butler1880"> {{cite book |last1=Butler |first1=Samuel |author-link1=Samuel Butler (novelist) |title=Unconscious Memory |year=1880 |publisher=David Bogue |page=[https://archive.org/details/unconsciousmemo00hartgoog/page/n291 280] |url=https://archive.org/details/unconsciousmemo00hartgoog |quote=I may predict with some certainty that before long we shall find the original Darwinism of Dr.&nbsp;[[Erasmus Darwin]] ... generally accepted instead of the neo-Darwinism of to-day, and that the variations whose accumulation results in species will be recognised as due to the wants and endeavours of the living forms in which they appear, instead of being ascribed to chance, or, in other words, to unknown causes, as by Mr.&nbsp;Charles Darwin's system}}</ref> -->


<ref name = "wallacefund1"> {{cite web |url=http://wallacefund.info/terms-darwinism-and-neo-darwinism |title=On the terms "Darwinism" and "Neo-Darwinism" |last=Beccaloni |first=George |date=2013 |website=A. R. Wallace Website}}</ref>
<ref name = "wallacefund1">{{cite web |url=https://wallacefund.myspecies.info/terms-darwinism-and-neo-darwinism |title=On the terms "Darwinism" and "Neo-Darwinism" |last=Beccaloni |first=George |date=2013 |website=A. R. Wallace Website}}</ref>


<ref name = "Gould1">{{cite book |last=Gould |first=Stephen Jay |authorlink=Stephen Jay Gould |year=2002 |page=216 |title=The Structure of Evolutionary Theory |title-link=The Structure of Evolutionary Theory |place=Cambridge, MA |publisher=Belknap Press of [[Harvard University Press]] |isbn=978-0-674-00613-3 |lccn=2001043556 |oclc=47869352}}</ref>
<ref name = "Gould1">{{cite book |last=Gould |first=Stephen Jay |author-link=Stephen Jay Gould |year=2002 |page=216 |title=The Structure of Evolutionary Theory |title-link=The Structure of Evolutionary Theory |place=Cambridge, MA |publisher=Belknap Press of [[Harvard University Press]] |isbn=978-0-674-00613-3 |lccn=2001043556 |oclc=47869352}}</ref>


<ref name="Gould2">{{cite book |last=Gould |first=Stephen Jay |year=2011 |chapter=Challenges to Neo-Darwinism and Their Meaning for a Revised View of Human Consciousness |editor-last=McMurrin |editor-first=Sterling M. |editor-link=Sterling M. McMurrin |title=The Tanner Lectures on Human Values |volume=6 |location=Salt Lake City, UT; Cambridge, UK |publisher=[[University of Utah Press]]; [[Cambridge University Press]] |isbn=978-0-521-17647-7 |oclc=846869183 |pages=[http://tannerlectures.utah.edu/_documents/a-to-z/g/gould85.pdf 53–73]}} "Lecture delivered at [[Clare Hall, Cambridge|Clare Hall, Cambridge University]] April 30 and May 1, 1984"</ref>
<ref name="Gould2">{{cite book |last=Gould |first=Stephen Jay |year=2011 |chapter=Challenges to Neo-Darwinism and Their Meaning for a Revised View of Human Consciousness |editor-last=McMurrin |editor-first=Sterling M. |editor-link=Sterling M. McMurrin |title=The Tanner Lectures on Human Values |volume=6 |location=Salt Lake City, UT; Cambridge, UK |publisher=[[University of Utah Press]]; [[Cambridge University Press]] |isbn=978-0-521-17647-7 |oclc=846869183 |pages=[http://tannerlectures.utah.edu/_documents/a-to-z/g/gould85.pdf 53–73]}} "Lecture delivered at [[Clare Hall, Cambridge|Clare Hall, Cambridge University]] April 30 and May 1, 1984"</ref>


<ref name =Darwin1868>{{cite book |last=Darwin |first=Charles |author-link=Charles Darwin |year=1868 |title=The Variation of Animals and Plants under Domestication |edition=1st |location=London, UK |publisher=John Murray |url=http://darwin-online.org.uk/EditorialIntroductions/Freeman_VariationunderDomestication.html}}</ref>
<ref name =Darwin1868>{{cite book |last=Darwin |first=Charles |author-link=Charles Darwin |year=1868 |title=The Variation of Animals and Plants Under Domestication |edition=1st |location=London, UK |publisher=John Murray |url=http://darwin-online.org.uk/EditorialIntroductions/Freeman_VariationunderDomestication.html}}</ref>


<ref name=Darwin1872>{{cite book |last=Darwin |first=Charles |authorlink=Charles Darwin |year=1872 |title=The Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, or the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life |edition=6th |location=London |publisher=[[John Murray (publisher)|John Murray]] |oclc=1185571 |title-link=On the Origin of Species}}</ref>
<ref name=Darwin1872>{{cite book |last=Darwin |first=Charles |author-link=Charles Darwin |year=1872 |title=The Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, or the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life |edition=6th |location=London |publisher=[[John Murray (publishing house)|John Murray]] |oclc=1185571 |title-link=On the Origin of Species}}</ref>


<ref name="Kutschera1">{{cite journal |last=Kutschera |first=Ulrich |date=December 2003 |title=A comparative analysis of the Darwin-Wallace papers and the development of the concept of natural selection |journal=Theory in Biosciences |volume=122 |issue=4 |pages=343–359 |doi=10.1007/s12064-003-0063-6 |issn=1431-7613}}</ref>
<ref name="Kutschera1">{{cite journal |last=Kutschera |first=Ulrich |date=December 2003 |title=A comparative analysis of the Darwin-Wallace papers and the development of the concept of natural selection |journal=Theory in Biosciences |volume=122 |issue=4 |pages=343–359 |doi=10.1007/s12064-003-0063-6 |s2cid=24297627 |issn=1431-7613}}</ref>


<ref name="Reif">{{cite journal |last1=Reif |first1=Wolf-Ernst |authorlink1=:de:Wolf-Ernst Reif |last2=Junker |first2=Thomas |authorlink2=:de:Thomas Junker |last3=Hoßfeld |first3=Uwe |authorlink3=:de:Uwe Hoßfeld |date=March 2000 |title=The synthetic theory of evolution: general problems and the German contribution to the synthesis |journal=Theory in Biosciences |volume=119 |issue=1 |pages=41–91 |doi=10.1007/s12064-000-0004-6 |issn=1431-7613|url=http://www.thomas-junker.homepage.t-online.de/pdf/00rjhtb.pdf |citeseerx=10.1.1.329.7230 }}</ref>
<ref name="Reif">{{cite journal |last1=Reif |first1=Wolf-Ernst |author-link1=:de:Wolf-Ernst Reif |last2=Junker |first2=Thomas |author-link2=:de:Thomas Junker |last3=Hoßfeld |first3=Uwe |author-link3=:de:Uwe Hoßfeld |date=March 2000 |title=The synthetic theory of evolution: general problems and the German contribution to the synthesis |journal=Theory in Biosciences |volume=119 |issue=1 |pages=41–91 |doi=10.1007/s12064-000-0004-6 |issn=1431-7613|url=http://www.thomas-junker.homepage.t-online.de/pdf/00rjhtb.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/http://www.thomas-junker.homepage.t-online.de/pdf/00rjhtb.pdf |archive-date=2022-10-09 |url-status=live |citeseerx=10.1.1.329.7230 |s2cid=4893208 }}</ref>


<ref name = "Barbieri"> {{cite journal |last=Barbieri |first=Francisco D. |year=1989 |title=The origin of Metazoa and Weismann's germ line theory |journal=Rivista di Biologia |volume=82 |issue=1 |pages=61–74 |issn=0035-6050 |pmid=2665023}}</ref>
<ref name = "Barbieri">{{cite journal |last=Barbieri |first=Francisco D. |year=1989 |title=The origin of Metazoa and Weismann's germ line theory |journal=Rivista di Biologia |volume=82 |issue=1 |pages=61–74 |issn=0035-6050 |pmid=2665023}}</ref>


<ref name = "talkorigins1"> {{cite web |url=http://www.talkorigins.org/faqs/modern-synthesis.html |title=The Modern Synthesis of Genetics and Evolution |date=January 22, 1993 |last=Moran |first=Laurance |website=TalkOrigins Archive |publisher=The TalkOrigins Foundation, Inc. |location=Houston, TX |accessdate=2007-09-19}}</ref>
<ref name = "talkorigins1">{{cite web |url=http://www.talkorigins.org/faqs/modern-synthesis.html |title=The Modern Synthesis of Genetics and Evolution |date=January 22, 1993 |last=Moran |first=Laurance |website=TalkOrigins Archive |publisher=The TalkOrigins Foundation, Inc. |location=Houston, TX |access-date=2007-09-19}}</ref>


<ref name = "Walter1"> {{cite journal |last=Bock |first=Walter J. |date=July 1981 |title=Reviewed Work: ''The Evolutionary Synthesis. Perspectives on the Unification of Biology'' |journal=[[The Auk]] |volume=98 |issue=3 |pages=644–646 |issn=0004-8038 |jstor=4086148}}</ref>
<ref name = "Walter1">{{cite journal |last=Bock |first=Walter J. |date=July 1981 |title=Reviewed Work: ''The Evolutionary Synthesis. Perspectives on the Unification of Biology'' |journal=[[The Auk]] |volume=98 |issue=3 |pages=644–646 |issn=0004-8038 |jstor=4086148}}</ref>


<ref name="Mayr"> {{cite journal |last=Mayr |first=Ernst |authorlink=Ernst Mayr |year=1984 |title=What is Darwinism Today? |journal=PSA: Proceedings of the Biennial Meeting of the Philosophy of Science Association |volume=2 |issue=2 |pages=145–156 |issn=0270-8647 |jstor=192502|doi=10.1086/psaprocbienmeetp.1984.2.192502 }} Volume Two: Symposia and Invited Papers (1984).</ref>
<ref name="Mayr">{{cite journal |last=Mayr |first=Ernst |author-link=Ernst Mayr |year=1984 |title=What is Darwinism Today? |journal=PSA: Proceedings of the Biennial Meeting of the Philosophy of Science Association |volume=1984 |issue=2 |pages=145–156 |issn=0270-8647 |jstor=192502|doi=10.1086/psaprocbienmeetp.1984.2.192502 |s2cid=147090072 }} Volume Two: Symposia and Invited Papers (1984).</ref>


<ref name="Pigliucci2007">{{cite journal |last=Pigliucci |first=Massimo |authorlink=Massimo Pigliucci |date=December 2007 |title=Do We Need An Extended Evolutionary Synthesis? |url=http://www.nespolo.cl/LECTURAS/Clase%200_Pigliucci%202007-Evolution-EES%207pp.pdf |journal=[[Evolution (journal)|Evolution]] |volume=61 |issue=12 |pages=2743–2749 |doi=10.1111/j.1558-5646.2007.00246.x |pmid=17924956 |access-date=2011-03-27 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150424224415/http://www.nespolo.cl/LECTURAS/Clase%200_Pigliucci%202007-Evolution-EES%207pp.pdf |archive-date=2015-04-24 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
<ref name="Pigliucci2007">{{cite journal |last=Pigliucci |first=Massimo |author-link=Massimo Pigliucci |date=December 2007 |title=Do We Need An Extended Evolutionary Synthesis? |journal=[[Evolution (journal)|Evolution]] |volume=61 |issue=12 |pages=2743–2749 |doi=10.1111/j.1558-5646.2007.00246.x |pmid=17924956 |s2cid=2703146 |doi-access=free }}</ref>


<ref name="britannica1"> {{cite encyclopedia |title=neo-Darwinism |url=http://www.britannica.com/science/neo-Darwinism |encyclopedia=[[Encyclopædia Britannica]] |year=2015 |publisher=[[Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.]] |location=Chicago, IL |accessdate=2015-11-19}}</ref>
<ref name="britannica1">{{cite encyclopedia |title=neo-Darwinism |url=http://www.britannica.com/science/neo-Darwinism |encyclopedia=[[Encyclopædia Britannica]] |year=2015 |publisher=[[Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.]] |location=Chicago, IL |access-date=2015-11-19}}</ref>


<ref name="YouTube1">{{YouTube|id=kYCVmXVp_rk|title="Neo-Darwinism Lecture by Richard Dawkins"}}. The video of the lecture was originally posted on May 5, 2010, at old.richarddawkins.net: {{cite web |url=http://old.richarddawkins.net/videos/1345-lecture-on-neo-darwinism |title=Lecture on Neo-Darwinism |accessdate=2013-07-07 |url-status=bot: unknown |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20141201082744/http://old.richarddawkins.net/videos/1345-lecture-on-neo-darwinism |archivedate=December 1, 2014 }}.</ref>
<ref name="YouTube1">{{YouTube|id=kYCVmXVp_rk|title="Neo-Darwinism Lecture by Richard Dawkins"}}. The video of the lecture was originally posted on May 5, 2010, at old.richarddawkins.net: {{cite web |url=http://old.richarddawkins.net/videos/1345-lecture-on-neo-darwinism |title=Lecture on Neo-Darwinism |access-date=2013-07-07 |url-status=bot: unknown |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141201082744/http://old.richarddawkins.net/videos/1345-lecture-on-neo-darwinism |archive-date=December 1, 2014 }}.</ref>


<ref name="Kutschera"> {{cite journal |last1=Kutschera |first1=Ulrich |authorlink1=Ulrich Kutschera |last2=Niklas |first2=Karl J. |authorlink2=Karl J. Niklas |date=June 2004 |title=The modern theory of biological evolution: an expanded synthesis |journal=[[Naturwissenschaften]] |volume=91 |issue=6 |pages=255–276 |bibcode=2004NW.....91..255K |doi=10.1007/s00114-004-0515-y |pmid=15241603}}</ref>
<ref name="Kutschera">{{cite journal |last1=Kutschera |first1=Ulrich |author-link1=Ulrich Kutschera |last2=Niklas |first2=Karl J. |author-link2=Karl J. Niklas |date=June 2004 |title=The modern theory of biological evolution: an expanded synthesis |journal=[[Naturwissenschaften]] |volume=91 |issue=6 |pages=255–276 |bibcode=2004NW.....91..255K |doi=10.1007/s00114-004-0515-y |pmid=15241603|s2cid=10731711 }}</ref>


}}
}}


⚫
{{Evolution}}
⚫
{{Evolutionary psychology}}
{{Authority control}}


[[Category:Evolutionary biology]]
[[Category:Evolutionary biology]]

Latest revision as of 07:57, 13 May 2024

Friedrich Leopold August Weismann, considered the "founder of Neo-Darwinism" for expanding Darwin's theory along genetic lines
George John Romanes originally used Neo-Darwinism in 1895 to refer to an early modification of Darwin's theory. Photograph by Elliott & Fry (1896)

Neo-Darwinism is generally used to describe any integration of Charles Darwin's theory of evolution by natural selection with Gregor Mendel's theory of genetics. It mostly refers to evolutionary theory from either 1895 (for the combinations of Darwin's and August Weismann's theories of evolution) or 1942 ("modern synthesis"), but it can mean any new Darwinian- and Mendelian-based theory, such as the current evolutionary theory.

Original use[edit]

Several major ideas about evolution came together in the population genetics of the early 20th century to form the so-called modern synthesis, including genetic variation, natural selection, and particulate (Mendelian) inheritance. This was at the time called neo-Darwinism.

Darwin's theory of evolution by natural selection, as published in 1859, provided a selection mechanism for evolution, but not a trait transfer mechanism. Lamarckism was still a very popular candidate for this. August Weismann and Alfred Russel Wallace rejected the Lamarckian idea of inheritance of acquired characteristics that Darwin had accepted and later expanded upon in his writings on heredity.[1]: 108 [2][3] The basis for the complete rejection of Lamarckism was Weismann's germ plasm theory. Weismann realised that the cells that produce the germ plasm, or gametes (such as sperm and eggs in animals), separate from the somatic cells that go on to make other body tissues at an early stage in development. Since he could see no obvious means of communication between the two, he asserted that the inheritance of acquired characteristics was therefore impossible; a conclusion now known as the Weismann barrier.[4]

It is, however, usually George Romanes who is credited with the first use of the word in a scientific context. Romanes used the term to describe the combination of natural selection and Weismann's germ plasm theory that evolution occurs solely through natural selection, and not by the inheritance of acquired characteristics resulting from use or disuse, thus using the word to mean "Darwinism without Lamarckism."[5][6][7]

Following the development, from about 1918 to 1947, of the modern synthesis of evolutionary biology, the term neo-Darwinian started to be used to refer to that contemporary evolutionary theory.[8][9]

Current meaning[edit]

Biologists, however, have not limited their application of the term neo-Darwinism to the historical synthesis. For example, Ernst Mayr wrote in 1984 that:

The term neo-Darwinism for the synthetic theory [of the early 20th century] is sometimes considered wrong, because the term neo-Darwinism was coined by Romanes in 1895 as a designation of Weismann's theory.[10][11][7][12]

Publications such as Encyclopædia Britannica use neo-Darwinism to refer to current-consensus evolutionary theory, not the version prevalent during the early 20th century.[13] Similarly, Richard Dawkins and Stephen Jay Gould have used neo-Darwinism in their writings and lectures to denote the forms of evolutionary biology that were contemporary when they were writing.[14][15]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Darwin, Charles (1872). The Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, or the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life (6th ed.). London: John Murray. OCLC 1185571.
  2. ^ Darwin, Charles (1868). The Variation of Animals and Plants Under Domestication (1st ed.). London, UK: John Murray.
  3. ^ Kutschera, Ulrich (December 2003). "A comparative analysis of the Darwin-Wallace papers and the development of the concept of natural selection". Theory in Biosciences. 122 (4): 343–359. doi:10.1007/s12064-003-0063-6. ISSN 1431-7613. S2CID 24297627.
  4. ^ Barbieri, Francisco D. (1989). "The origin of Metazoa and Weismann's germ line theory". Rivista di Biologia. 82 (1): 61–74. ISSN 0035-6050. PMID 2665023.
  5. ^ Gould, Stephen Jay (2002). The Structure of Evolutionary Theory. Cambridge, MA: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press. p. 216. ISBN 978-0-674-00613-3. LCCN 2001043556. OCLC 47869352.
  6. ^ Beccaloni, George (2013). "On the terms "Darwinism" and "Neo-Darwinism"". A. R. Wallace Website.
  7. ^ a b Reif, Wolf-Ernst [in German]; Junker, Thomas [in German]; Hoßfeld, Uwe [in German] (March 2000). "The synthetic theory of evolution: general problems and the German contribution to the synthesis" (PDF). Theory in Biosciences. 119 (1): 41–91. CiteSeerX 10.1.1.329.7230. doi:10.1007/s12064-000-0004-6. ISSN 1431-7613. S2CID 4893208. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2022-10-09.
  8. ^ Moran, Laurance (January 22, 1993). "The Modern Synthesis of Genetics and Evolution". TalkOrigins Archive. Houston, TX: The TalkOrigins Foundation, Inc. Retrieved 2007-09-19.
  9. ^ Bock, Walter J. (July 1981). "Reviewed Work: The Evolutionary Synthesis. Perspectives on the Unification of Biology". The Auk. 98 (3): 644–646. ISSN 0004-8038. JSTOR 4086148.
  10. ^ Mayr, Ernst (1984). "What is Darwinism Today?". PSA: Proceedings of the Biennial Meeting of the Philosophy of Science Association. 1984 (2): 145–156. doi:10.1086/psaprocbienmeetp.1984.2.192502. ISSN 0270-8647. JSTOR 192502. S2CID 147090072. Volume Two: Symposia and Invited Papers (1984).
  11. ^ Kutschera, Ulrich; Niklas, Karl J. (June 2004). "The modern theory of biological evolution: an expanded synthesis". Naturwissenschaften. 91 (6): 255–276. Bibcode:2004NW.....91..255K. doi:10.1007/s00114-004-0515-y. PMID 15241603. S2CID 10731711.
  12. ^ Pigliucci, Massimo (December 2007). "Do We Need An Extended Evolutionary Synthesis?". Evolution. 61 (12): 2743–2749. doi:10.1111/j.1558-5646.2007.00246.x. PMID 17924956. S2CID 2703146.
  13. ^ "neo-Darwinism". Encyclopædia Britannica. Chicago, IL: Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. 2015. Retrieved 2015-11-19.
  14. ^ "Neo-Darwinism Lecture by Richard Dawkins" on YouTube. The video of the lecture was originally posted on May 5, 2010, at old.richarddawkins.net: "Lecture on Neo-Darwinism". Archived from the original on December 1, 2014. Retrieved 2013-07-07.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link).
  15. ^ Gould, Stephen Jay (2011). "Challenges to Neo-Darwinism and Their Meaning for a Revised View of Human Consciousness". In McMurrin, Sterling M. (ed.). The Tanner Lectures on Human Values. Vol. 6. Salt Lake City, UT; Cambridge, UK: University of Utah Press; Cambridge University Press. pp. 53–73. ISBN 978-0-521-17647-7. OCLC 846869183. "Lecture delivered at Clare Hall, Cambridge University April 30 and May 1, 1984"
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Neo-Darwinism&oldid=1223613706"