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In evolutionary biology, punctuated equilibrium (also called punctuated equilibria) is a theory that proposes that once a species appears in the fossil record, the population will become stable, showing little evolutionary change for most of its geological history. [1] This state of little or no morphological change is called stasis.
Eldredge and Stephen Jay Gould proposed punctuated equilibria in 1972. Punctuated equilibrium is a refinement to evolutionary theory. It describes patterns of descent taking place in "fits and starts" separated by long periods of stability. Eldredge went on to develop a hierarchical vision of evolutionary and ecological systems. Around this ...
Sample of Bak–Sneppen model evolution: on the x-axis the population status, on the y-axis (from top to the bottom) the history of the population. Each discontinuity represents an evolution. The color codes the age of the species.
According to Gould, punctuated equilibrium revised a key pillar "in the central logic of Darwinian theory." [17] Some evolutionary biologists have argued that while punctuated equilibrium was "of great interest to biology generally," [42] it merely modified neo-Darwinism in a manner that was fully compatible with what had been known before. [43]
For example, Denis Noble says that using terms and categories of the modern synthesis distorts the picture of biology that modern experimentation has discovered. [91] Proponents therefore claim that the extended synthesis is necessary to help expand the conceptions and framework of how evolution is considered throughout the biological disciplines.
Pages in category "Punctuated equilibrium" The following 8 pages are in this category, out of 8 total. This list may not reflect recent changes. D. Robert M. W. Dixon; E.
Punctuated gradualism is considered to be a variation of these models, lying somewhere in between the phyletic gradualism model and the punctuated equilibrium model. It states that speciation is not needed for a lineage to rapidly evolve from one equilibrium to another but may show rapid transitions between long-stable states.
Cuvier attempted to explain this paleontological phenomenon he envisioned (which would be readdressed more than a century later by "punctuated equilibrium") and to harmonize it with the Bible. He attributed the different time periods he was aware of as intervals between major catastrophes, the last of which is found in Genesis .