Why an extended evolutionary synthesis is necessary

Abstract

Since the last major theoretical integration in evolutionary biology-the modern synthesis (MS) of the 1940s-the biosciences have made significant advances. The rise of molecular biology and evolutionary developmental biology, the recognition of ecological development, niche construction and multiple inheritance systems, the '-omics' revolution and the science of systems biology, among other developments, have provided a wealth of new knowledge about the factors responsible for evolutionary change. Some of these results are in agreement with the standard theory and others reveal different properties of the evolutionary process. A renewed and extended theoretical synthesis, advocated by several authors in this issue, aims to unite pertinent concepts that emerge from the novel fields with elements of the standard theory. The resulting theoretical framework differs from the latter in its core logic and predictive capacities. Whereas the MS theory and its various amendments concentrate on genetic and adaptive variation in populations, the extended framework emphasizes the role of constructive processes, ecological interactions and systems dynamics in the evolution of organismal complexity as well as its social and cultural conditions. Single-level and unilinear causation is replaced by multilevel and reciprocal causation. Among other consequences, the extended framework overcomes many of the limitations of traditional gene-centric explanation and entails a revised understanding of the role of natural selection in the evolutionary process. All these features stimulate research into new areas of evolutionary biology.

Keywords: evolutionary biology; evolutionary developmental biology; extended synthesis; modern synthesis; niche construction; systems biology.

Figure 1.

Feedback interactions among different levels of organization in developmental systems. Examples of autonomous properties of each level are marked in red (E, environmental influences).

Figure 2.

Schematic depiction of defining theory components and relations in (a) the MS (after Odling-Smee et al. [97]) and (b) the extended synthesis (after Müller [107]). Major differences are indicated by different colours. (Online version in colour.)