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Introduction to the Symposium on Tempo and Mode of Evolution from Micropaleontological Data

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  08 April 2016

William A. Berggren  and
Richard E. Casey
William A. Berggren
Affiliation:
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, MA 02543
Richard E. Casey
Affiliation:
Department of Geology, Rice University, Houston, TX 77251
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Extract

The concept of punctuated equilibria was introduced by Eldredge and Gould (1972) as an interpretation of the sequential occurrence of species as actually observed in the fossil record. The pattern of sudden appearance of a new species followed by little or no morphological change during the remainder of the species' existence contrasts with phyletic gradualism, the pattern of slower, more evenly distributed change which was long considered to be the principal mode of species formation (Simpson 1944). The question of which is the dominant pattern of evolutionary change has continued as an actively debated theme in much of the paleontological literature of the past decade.

Type
Articles
Information
Paleobiology , Volume 9 , Issue 4 , Fall 1983 , pp. 326
Copyright
Copyright © The Paleontological Society 

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References

Literature Cited

Eldredge, N. and Gould, S. J. 1972. Punctuated equilibria: An alternative to phyletic gradualism. pp. 82–115. In: Schopf, T. J. M., ed. Models in Paleobiology. Freeman, Cooper and Co., San Francisco, CA.Google Scholar
Simpson, G. G. 1944. Tempo and Mode in Evolution. 237 pp. Columbia Univ. Press, New York.Google Scholar