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t. e. 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.
Peripatric speciation is a mode of speciation in which a new species is formed from an isolated peripheral population. [1]: 105 Since peripatric speciation resembles allopatric speciation, in that populations are isolated and prevented from exchanging genes, it can often be difficult to distinguish between them.
In 1996, Gould was hired as the Vincent Astor Visiting Research Professor of Biology at New York University, after which he divided his time teaching between there and Harvard. Gould's most significant contribution to evolutionary biology was the theory of punctuated equilibrium [2] developed with Niles Eldredge in 1972. [3]
Critical juncture theory focuses on critical junctures, i.e., large, rapid, discontinuous changes, [1] and the long-term causal effect or historical legacy of these changes. [2] Critical junctures are turning points that alter the course of evolution of some entity (e.g., a species, a society). Critical juncture theory seeks to explain both (1 ...
Evolutionary biology. Macroevolution comprises the evolutionary processes and patterns which occur at and above the species level. [1][2][3] In contrast, microevolution is evolution occurring within the population (s) of a single species. In other words, microevolution is the scale of evolution that is limited to intraspecific (within-species ...
Autecology. Autecology is an approach in ecology that seeks to explain the distribution and abundance of species by studying interactions of individual organisms with their environments. An autecological approach differs from ecosystem ecology, community ecology (synecology) and population ecology (demecology) by greater recognition of the ...
v. t. e. Punctuated gradualism is a microevolutionary hypothesis that refers to a species that has "relative stasis over a considerable part of its total duration [and] underwent periodic, relatively rapid, morphologic change that did not lead to lineage branching". It is one of the three common models of evolution.
The word phyletic derives from the Greek φυλετικός phūletikos, which conveys the meaning of a line of descent. [2] Phyletic gradualism contrasts with the theory of punctuated equilibrium, which proposes that most evolution occurs isolated in rare episodes of rapid evolution, when a single species splits into two distinct species, followed by a long period of stasis or non-change.