Pigliucci, M. Do we need an extended evolutionary synthesis? (2007)

Pigliucci, M. Do we need an extended evolutionary synthesis? / M. Pigliucci // Evolution. — 2007. — Vol. 61, no. 12.

Abstract:

The Modern Synthesis (MS) of evolutionary biology, which achieved its consensus status in the 1940s, is generally considered a closed and sufficient framework for evolutionary studies. However, a growing number of evolutionary biologists and philosophers of science have argued that the MS is incomplete and that a new, Extended Evolutionary Synthesis (EES) is necessary. The EES would integrate developmental biology, epigenetics, and the study of non-genetic inheritance into the existing Darwinian framework. This paper evaluates the current state of evolutionary theory, exploring the arguments for and against the EES. I conclude that while the MS has been remarkably successful, the ongoing integration of new fields justifies the call for an EES, not as a replacement for the MS, but as a formalization of the expansion that is already occurring in evolutionary biology."