The Extended Evolutionary Synthesis and the role of soft inheritance in evolution

In recent years, a number of researchers have advocated extending the modern synthesis in evolutionary
biology. One of the core arguments made in favour of an extension comes from work on soft inheritance
systems, including transgenerational epigenetic effects, cultural transmission and niche construction. In
this study, we outline this claim and then take issue with it. We argue that the focus on soft inheritance
has led to a conflation of proximate and ultimate causation, which has in turn obscured key questions
about biological organization and calibration across the life span to maximize average lifetime inclusive
fitness. We illustrate this by presenting hypotheses that we believe incorporate the core phenomena of
soft inheritance and will aid in understanding them.

Citation:
Dickins, T.E. and Rahman, Q. (2012) 'The Extended Evolutionary Synthesis and the role of soft inheritance in evolution', Proc R Soc B, published online 16 May 2012, doi: 10.1098/rspb.2012.0273.