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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.
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 .
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
For example, Poole (see below) found in his empirical research that seemingly complex patterns of behavior in group decision-making result from the interplay of life-cycle and teleological motors. An important observation made by McGrath and Tschan in 2004 regarding the different models of group development found in the literature is that ...
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.
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 ...
The theory of punctuated equilibrium developed by Stephen Jay Gould and Niles Eldredge and first presented in 1972 [61] is often mistakenly drawn into the discussion of transitional fossils. [62] This theory, however, pertains only to well-documented transitions within taxa or between closely related taxa over a geologically short period of time.
Punctuated equilibrium, path dependence, and institutions. Paul A. David and W. Brian Arthur, two economists, introduced and elaborated the concept of path dependence, the idea that past events and decisions affect present options and that some outcomes can persist due to the operation of a self-reinforcing feedback loop. [31]