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Neo-Darwinism

Neo-Darwinism is the modern version of Darwinian evolutionary theory: the synthesis of Mendelian genetics and Darwinism. Darwin knew very little about the mechanism of variation; he merely recognized that whatever its source, phenotypic variation allowed for natural selection to operate. It was modern genetics that provided the key insight into the means by which variation in biology originated.

Neo-Darwinism postulates that natural selection acts on the heritable (genetic) variations within individuals in populations and that mutations (especially random copying errors in DNA) provide the main source of these genetic variations. Because positive mutations seem to be rare, Neo-Darwinism contends that evolution will be a slow, gradual process.

Neo-Darwinsim holds that the processes responsible for small-scale micro-evolutionary changes can be extrapolated indefinitely to produce large-scale macro-evolutionary changes leading to major innovations in form. Neo-Darwinism is also called the Modern Synthesis (as such, it synthesizes or brings together together classical Darwinism with modern genetic theory).

Web Resources On Neo-Darwinism

http://www.panspermia.org/neodarw.htm
http://www.talkorigins.org/faqs/modern-synthesis.html
http://www.dai.ed.ac.uk/homes/timt/papers/thesis/html/node12.html

Book Resources On Neo-Darwinism

Darwin's Dangerous Idea by Daniel Dennett
The Blind Watchmaker by Richard Dawkins
Darwin In the Genome by Lynn Helena Caporale