Question
$30.00 phyletic gradualism and punctuated equilibrium
- From General-Questions: General-Academic-Questions , Biology: Evolution
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- Due on Sep. 05, 2012
- Asked on Sep 02, 2012 at 3:31:30PM
Q:
All scientific theories must be able to make testable predictions. Such predictions are based on observations. Experiments can then be conducted to verify (or falsify) such predictions. Darwin theorized that evolution occurred through natural selection; however, this may not have occurred in smooth process. Some evolutionary theorists suggest that evolution by natural selection occurred in step-wise fashion.
Assignment
Write 3–4 pages on the following (not including the title and reference pages):
- Explain the concepts of phyletic gradualism and punctuated equilibrium.
- What predictions about the fossil record does punctuated equilibrium make?
- In this model, what are the processes that produce rapid evolution? Which evolutionary factors are responsible for the periods of relative stasis?
- Patterns of punctuated equilibrium have been observed in some cases, but the debate between punctuated equilibrium and phyletic gradualism continues and provides interesting areas of research. Based on your research into the scientific process, what evidence do we see today that supports a long history of life on the planet?
- What evidence do we see that supports evolution by gradual change?
- What evidence do we see that supports the concept of punctuated equilibrium?
I KNOW THERE'S A COUPLE OF POSTING ON THIS ALREADY BUT CAN KEEP IT ORIGINAL
$30.00
perfect answer A++
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- Posted on Sep 02, 2012 at 3:54:00PM
A:
Preview: ... al selection operates on the new species to weed out the non-viable ones. The original paper3 began with a philosophical treatment of the reluctance of mainstream evolutionists to admit the lack of fossil evidence for gradualism. That is, the preeminence of theory over ‘facts’. Eldredge and Gould recognized, like other commentators on the scientific method, that facts only ‘speak’ when theory accommodates them; otherwise they are explained away. They claimed they were proposing a new theory which would allow the facts of stasis and abrupt appearance in the fossil record to be accommodated in an evolutionary (that is, naturalistic) framework. Previously, stasis had been ignored and the gaps were explained as due to incomplete knowledge. At one level punctuated equilibrium (PE) is merely a description of the fossil record (assuming geologic time, of course). At another level, it is a process of evolution which Eldredge and Gould claimed could account for the pattern in the fossil record. They claimed that major changes occurred in small, isolated populations removed from the major population (allopatric speciation via peripheral isolates). Furthermore, they claimed these changes happened rather quickly (geologically speaking). This was the supposed ‘mechanism’ which accounted for the stasis and ‘gappiness’ of the fossil record. They said:    ‘Since speciation occurs rapidly in small populations occupying small areas far from the center of ancestral abundance, we will rarely discover the actual event in the fossil record.’4 They did not define ‘rapidly’, except to say the changes happened,    ‘in a short period of time relative to the total duration of a species’.5 The other main proponent of PE has been Steven Stanley, who claimed that:    ‘Gradual evolutionary change by natural selection operates so slowly within established species that it cannot account for the major features of evolution’,6 thus agreeing that changes which produced new species occurred relatively quickly. Punctuated Equilibria or Punctuated Equilibrium In their 1972 paper, Eldredge and Gould used the term ‘punctuated equilibria’ to refer to their concept. Eldredge used this term in his writings, whereas Gould used ‘punctuated equilibrium’ (compare the titles of references 9 and 28 for example). Their review paper of 1993 used ‘punctuated equilibrium’, so it appears that this term has come to prevail. The Pedigree Of Punctuated Equilibrium Others had recognized that the fossil record did not show gradual transitions between taxa. For example, in 1940 Richard Goldschmidt7 argued that transitions must have ...
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