The Modern Evolutionary Synthesis and the History of Its Development :: Evolution Science Biology Research Papers

The Modern evolutionary synthesis is combination of Darwinian evolutionary theory and Mendelian genetics. It is impossible to understand the theory and it's importance to the scientific community unless one understands the history behind the theory. From 1902 to 1953 major publications in the areas of systematics, developmental biology, botany, population genetics, and paleontology sucessfully integrated Darwin's four postulates and Mendelian genetics into a reformation of evolutionary theory. The new theory is referred to as the Modern Synthesis, Evolutionary Synthesis, or the Modern Evolutionary Synthesis. These terms can be used inter-changeably. Before one can understand the Modern Synthesis and this analysis there a few defintions that must be explained in order to grasp the concept, espically if a person is not familiar with biological terminology. This list of definitions does not have to be read fully but is provided to refer to when a biological term is not understood... of course maybe not every term that isn't understood, but the majority. -Allele-one of a pair, or series, of alternative forms of a gene that occur at a given locus (location) in a chromosome. -Fitness-the number of offspring left by an individual, often compared with the average of the population or with some other standard, such as the number left by a particular genotype. -Gene-a hereditary determinant of a specific biological function; a unit of inheritance (DNA) located in a fixed position on a chromosome. -Genotype-the genetic constitution (gene makeup) of a an organism. -Phenotype-The observable characteristics of an organism. -Chromosomes-darkly staining nucleotide bodies that are observed in cells during division. Each chromosome carries a linear array of genes. -Mutation-a change in DNA at a particular locations in an organism. The term is used loosely to include point mutations involving a single gene change as well as a chromosomal changes. -Variation-in biology, the occurrence of differences among individuals. -Taxon (plural: Taxa)-any named group of organisms. -Macroevolution-large evolutionary change ,usually in morphology; typically refers to the evolution of differences among populations that would warrant their placement in different genera or higher-level taxa. -Microevolution-changes in a gene frequencies and trait distributions that occur within populations and species. -Inheritance-the hypothesis that phenotypic changes in the parental generations can be passed on intact, to the next generation. -Population-for sexual species, a group of interbreeding individuals and their offspring; for asexual species, a group of individuals living in the same area. -Natural Selection-a difference, on average, between the survival or fecundity of