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

Example Sentences

The overwhelming majority of biologists and geneticists are neo-Darwinists, and one primary tenet of neo-Darwinism is the idea that the genetic mutations which cause living creatures to evolve occur randomly.

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Her ongoing research interests focus on the history and communication of theories of heredity in relation to Darwinism and neo-Darwinism from the mid-19th century to the present day.

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Dawkins was convinced that an amplified and developed version of neo-Darwinism “could make everything about life fall into place, in the heart as well as in the brain”.

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A primary assumption of the evolutionary model behind neo-Darwinism is that development can be traced back through a series of subtly incremental changes.

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On the one hand we have the Darwinism of Darwin freed from inconsequent additions and formulated as orthodox “neo-Darwinism”; on the other hand we have heterodox Lamarckism.

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