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Theory of Punctuated Equilibrium - Central Assumptions and Concepts

Author(s): Joanna Najder
Subject(s): Philosophy
Published by: Instytut Filozofii, Uniwersytet Zielonogórski
Keywords: Stephen Jay Gould; Niles Eldredge; punctuated equilibrium; punctualism; gradualism; Darwinism; macroevolution

Summary/Abstract: The article presents foundations of the theory of punctuated equilibrium which was formulated as an alternative account of the course of macroevolution to gradualistic Darwinism. Founders of the theory of punctuated equilibrium are American paleontologists Stephen Jay Gould and Niles Eldredge who claim that the process of macroevolution does not occur gradually, step by step, but it is characterized by long periods of stasis punctuated, from time to time, by rapid – on geological scale – transformations of organisms.

  • Issue Year: 2009
  • Issue No: 06+07
  • Page Range: 65-76
  • Page Count: 12
  • Language: Polish
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