Editing Stephen Jay Gould (section)

===Punctuated equilibrium===
[[Image:PunctuatedEquilibrium.png|thumb|The punctuated equilibrium model (above) consists of [[Morphology (biology)|morphological]] stability followed by episodic bursts of evolutionary change via rapid cladogenesis. It is contrasted (below) to [[phyletic gradualism]], a more gradual, continuous model of evolution.]]{{main|Punctuated equilibrium}}{{see also|Unit of selection}}

Early in his career, Gould and his colleague [[Niles Eldredge]] developed the theory of [[punctuated equilibrium]], which describes the rate of speciation in the fossil record as occurring relatively rapidly, which then alternates to a longer period of evolutionary stability.<ref name=punc1972/> It was Gould who coined the term "punctuated equilibria" though the theory was originally presented by Eldredge in his doctoral dissertation on [[Devonian]] [[trilobite]]s and his article published the previous year on [[allopatric speciation]].<ref>Eldredge, Niles (1971). [http://www.digitallibrary.amnh.org/bitstream/handle/2246/6568/10.5531sd.paleo.8.pdf "The Allopatric Model and Phylogeny in Paleozoic Invertebrates."] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160630134537/http://www.digitallibrary.amnh.org/bitstream/handle/2246/6568/10.5531sd.paleo.8.pdf |date=June 30, 2016 }} ''Evolution'' Vol. 25, No. 1 (Mar. 1971), pp. 156–167.</ref>

According to Gould, punctuated equilibrium revised a key pillar "in the central logic of [[Evolution|Darwinian theory]]".<ref name=SET/> Some evolutionary biologists have argued that while punctuated equilibrium was "of great interest to biology generally,"<ref>[[Richard Dawkins|Dawkins, Richard]] (1999). ''[[The Extended Phenotype]]'', Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, [https://web.natur.cuni.cz/filosof/markos/Publikace/Dawkins%20extended.pdf#page=111 p. 101.] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200808014558/https://web.natur.cuni.cz/filosof/markos/Publikace/Dawkins%20extended.pdf#page=111 |date=August 8, 2020 }}, {{ISBN|0-19-288051-9}}.</ref> it merely modified [[neo-Darwinism]] in a manner that was fully compatible with what had been known before.<ref name=PHT>{{Citation | doi = 10.1038/309401a0 | last1 = Maynard Smith | first1 = John | author-link = John Maynard Smith | year = 1984 | title = Paleontology at the high table | url = http://www.stephenjaygould.org/library/maynard-smith_high-table.html | journal = Nature | volume = 309 | issue = 5967 | pages = 401–402 | bibcode = 1984Natur.309..401S | s2cid = 31031206 | postscript = .}}</ref>
Other biologists emphasize the theoretical novelty of punctuated equilibrium, and argued that evolutionary stasis had been "unexpected by most evolutionary biologists" and "had a major impact on paleontology and evolutionary biology".<ref name="Dynamics">[[Ernst Mayr|Mayr, Ernst]] (1992). [http://www.stephenjaygould.org/library/mayr_punctuated.html "Speciational Evolution or Punctuated Equilibria".] In Steven Peterson and Albert Somit. ''The Dynamics of Evolution''. Ithaca: Cornell University Press, pp. 21–48. {{ISBN|0-8014-9763-9}}.</ref>

Comparisons were made to [[George Gaylord Simpson]]'s work in ''[[Tempo and Mode in Evolution]]'' (1941), in which he also illustrated relatively sudden changes along evolutionary lines. Simpson describes the paleontological record as being characterized by predominantly gradual change (which he termed horotely), although he also documented examples of slow (bradytely), and rapid (tachytely) rates of evolution. Punctuated equilibrium and phyletic gradualism are not mutually exclusive (as Simpson's work demonstrates), and examples of each have been documented in different lineages. The debate between these two models is often misunderstood by non-scientists, and according to [[Richard Dawkins]] has been oversold by the media.<ref>Dawkins, Richard (1986) ''The Blind Watchmaker''. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, [https://books.google.com/books?id=sPpaZnZMDG0C&pg=PA225 p. 225.]</ref>
Some critics jokingly referred to the theory of punctuated equilibrium as "evolution by jerks",<ref>Turner, John (1984). [https://books.google.com/books?id=6idhDboGmZoC&pg=PA34 "Why we need evolution by jerks."]{{Dead link|date=August 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} ''New Scientist'' 101 (Feb. 9): 34–35.</ref>
which prompted Gould to describe [[phyletic gradualism]] as "evolution by creeps".<ref>Gould, S. J. and Steven Rose, ed. (2007). ''The Richness of Life: The Essential Stephen Jay Gould''. New York: W. W. Norton & Co., [https://archive.org/details/richnessoflifees0000goul/page/6 p. 6.]</ref>