Modern Synthesis Review

For much of the early 20th century, the prevailing image of human evolution was a linear progression, a straight line from ape-like ancestors to modern Homo sapiens. This perspective, known as phyletic gradualism, was heavily influenced by the Modern Synthesis of the 1940s, a period that saw the unification of Darwinian evolution with Mendelian genetics. While the Modern Synthesis provided a robust framework for understanding evolutionary processes, it also inadvertently fostered a simplified view of human origins, one that depicted a steady, predictable march toward anatomical modernity. This linear model, often visualized as a single line of hominids gradually standing taller and developing larger brains, was reflected in the hominid phylogenies (evolutionary trees) of the time. These phylogenies often featured a single lineage, with each species replacing the previous one in a sequential manner. This simplistic representation failed to capture the true complexity of huma...