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What is another word for punctuated equilibrium?

Pronunciation: [pˈʌŋkt͡ʃuːˌe͡ɪtɪd ˌiːkwɪlˈɪbɹi͡əm] (IPA)

Punctuated equilibrium is a term often used in evolutionary biology to describe the idea that species tend to remain relatively stable for extended periods of time, followed by short bursts of rapid change. Synonyms for punctuated equilibrium include "evolutionary stasis," "morphological stability," and "gradualism punctuated by brief periods of rapid change." Some researchers prefer the term "emergent evolution" to emphasize the idea that new species emerge suddenly and unexpectedly, rather than accumulating changes gradually over time. Another related concept is the "hopeful monster" hypothesis, which suggests that major evolutionary leaps may be caused by rare genetic mutations that produce individuals with radically different traits.
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Synonyms for Punctuated equilibrium:

What are the hypernyms for Punctuated equilibrium?

A hypernym is a word with a broad meaning that encompasses more specific words called hyponyms.

What are the hyponyms for Punctuated equilibrium?

Hyponyms are more specific words categorized under a broader term, known as a hypernym.

Famous quotes with Punctuated equilibrium

  • The theory of punctuated equilibrium, proposed by Niles Eldredge and myself, is not, as so often misunderstood, a radical claim for truly sudden change, but a recognition that ordinary processes of speciation, properly conceived as glacially slow by the standard of our own life-span, do not resolve into geological time as long sequences of insensibly graded intermediates (the traditional, or gradualistic, view), but as geologically “sudden” origins at single bedding planes.
    Stephen Jay Gould
  • In this crucial sense, the theory of punctuated equilibrium adopts a very conservative position. The theory asserts no novel claim about modes or mechanisms of speciation; punctuated equilibrium merely takes a standard microevolutionary model and elucidates its expected expression when properly scaled into geological time.
    Stephen Jay Gould
  • I did speak extensively — often quite critically — about the reviled work of Richard Goldschmidt, particularly about aspects of his thought that might merit a rehearing. This material has often been confused with punctuated equlibrium by people who miss the crucial issue of scaling, and therefore regard all statements about rapidity at any level as necessarily unitary, and necessarily flowing from punctuated equilibrium. In fact, as the long treatment in Chapter 5 of this book should make clear, my interest in Goldschmidt resides in issues bearing little relationship with punctuated equilibrium, but invested instead in developmental questions that prompted my first book, . The two subjects, after all, are quite separate, and rooted in different scales of rapidity — hopeful monsters in genuine saltation, and punctuated equilibrium in macroevolutionary punctuation (produced by ordinary allopatric speciation).
    Stephen Jay Gould
  • Finally, the claim that we equated punctuated equilibrium with saltation makes no sense within the logical structure of our theory — so, unless we are fools, how could we ever have asserted such a proposition? Our theory holds, as a defining statement, that ordinary allopatric speciation, unfolding gradually at microevolutionary scales, translates to punctuation in geological time.
    Stephen Jay Gould
  • According to Gould and Eldredge, the reason why so many links are missing is that they simply do not exist. They take the view that biological evolution proceeds in successive stages of "punctuated equilibrium." Living species would remain unchanged for extremely long stretches of time, and then undergo profound changes in relatively short periods. To borrow a term from the quantum theory of atoms, evolution would occur in "quantum jumps." It is very likely that the spark of life appeared during the first such "jump."
    Stephen Jay Gould

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