Extended Evolutionary Synthesis

The Extended Evolutionary Synthesis (EES) is an extension of the modern evolutionary synthesis. This theory is an attempt to solve some of the theory of evolution’s problems. Many biologists claim there is no need for an extended synthesis because the modern synthesis is sufficient to explain the latest observations, while advocates of extended synthesis consider that the concepts of evolution in the core of the modern synthesis are too restricted and there is an urgent need to rethink the modern theory of evolution.

History
The Altenberg meeting, which was known as the "Altenberg 16 controversy", was a symposium, held in the Konrad Lorenz Institute for Evolution and Cognition Research, in Altenberg, Austria, in the period of 11-13 July 2008, with the participation of 16 evolutionary scientists, that proposed an extended evolutionary synthesis. The title of the symposium was "Toward an Extended Evolutionary Synthesis?". This meeting is called “the Woodstock of evolution” by some and the sixteen attendees where nicknamed “the Altenberg 16.”