neo-Darwinism

[nee-oh-dahr-wi-niz-uhm]

noun

Biology.

1. the theory of evolution as expounded by later students of Charles Darwin, especially Weismann, holding that natural selection accounts for evolution and denying the inheritance of acquired characters.

2. any modern theory of evolution holding that species evolve by natural selection acting on genetic variation.

Neo-Darwinism

/ ˌniːəʊˈdɑːwɪnˌɪzəm /

noun

1. the modern version of the Darwinian theory of evolution, which incorporates the principles of genetics to explain how inheritable variations can arise by mutation

Neo-Darwinism

1. Darwinism as modified by the findings of modern genetics, stating that mutations due to random copying errors in DNA cause variation within a population of individual organisms and that natural selection acts upon these variations.

Other Word Forms

• Neo-Darwinian adjective
• neo-Darwinian adjective
• neo-Darwinist noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of Neo-Darwinism¹

First recorded in 1900–05