Punctuated equilibrium is the proposal that a species typically shows little evolutionary change through most of its geological history, a stable period called stasis, interrupted by rare episodes of rapid branching into new species. Paleontologists Niles Eldredge and Stephen Jay Gould introduced the idea in a landmark 1972 paper, building on Ernst Mayr's earlier work on geographic speciation and genetic homeostasis. It stands opposed to phyletic gradualism, which pictures evolutionary change as a steady, continuous transformation of a lineage over time; punctuated equilibrium instead describes long periods of morphological stability broken by short, geologically brief bursts of rapid change concentrated around speciation events.
Facts
PeriodicityPunctuations generally placed at 50,000 to 100,000 years by supporters 1 First DescribedProposed in 1972 by Niles Eldredge and Stephen Jay Gould 1 Sources
1. Wikipedia: Punctuated equilibrium
History
In 1972, paleontologists
Common misconceptions
Although there exist some debate over how long the punctuations last, supporters of punctuated equilibrium generally place the figure between 50,000 and 100,000 years.
View the SourceReader Challenges (0)
No disputes yet. Spotted an error or a better source? Open the first one.
Sign in to dispute this or suggest a correction.