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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.
Punctuated equilibrium [ edit ] In the 1980s, the American palaeontologists Stephen Jay Gould and Niles Eldredge argued for an extended synthesis based on their idea of punctuated equilibrium , the role of species selection shaping large scale evolutionary patterns and natural selection working on multiple levels extending from genes to species.
The court jester hypothesis builds upon the punctuated equilibrium theory of Stephen Gould (1972) [8] by providing a primary mechanism for it. [2] The 2001 paper by Barnosky that is one of the first to use the term appropriate for the Court Jester side of the debate: the Stability hypothesis of Stenseth and Maynard Smith (1984), Vrba's Habitat Theory (1992), Vrba's Turn-over pulse hypothesis ...
The theory posits that most social systems exist in an extended period of stasis, which may be punctuated by sudden shifts leading to radical change. The theory was largely inspired by the evolutionary biology theory of punctuated equilibrium developed by paleontologists Niles Eldredge and Stephen Jay Gould.
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 ...
His theory evoked rivalry with the proponents of punctuated equilibrium, Stephen Jay Gould and Niles Eldredge, who endorsed H. erectus as a model of their theory. [4] [9] In an earlier example of punctuated evolution preceding the global diffusion of Homo sapiens genes from Africa, some two million years ago, Wolpoff points to evidence of an ...
Equilibrium unfolding, the process of unfolding a protein or RNA molecule by gradually changing its environment; Genetic equilibrium, theoretical state in which a population is not evolving; Homeostasis, the ability of an open system, especially living organisms, to regulate its internal environment; Punctuated equilibrium, theory in ...
The Richness of Life: the Essential Stephen Jay Gould, London: Jonathan Cape, 2007, ISBN 978-0-09-948867-5 This is an anthology of Gould's writings edited by Paul McGarr and Steven Rose, introduced by Steven Rose. 2007. Punctuated Equilibrium, Cambridge MA: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 2007, ISBN 978-0-674-02444-1 Book review