Abstract
In a paper entitled “Punctuated Equilibria: An Alternative to Phyletic Gradualism,” Eldredge and Gould (1972) properly criticize the naive concepts held by most paleontologists with respect to the interpretation of data from the fossil record. The model or “picture” (Eldredge and Gould, 1972) of the mechanism explaining morphological change used by most paleontologists is that of gradual change within a character or complex of characters which is expressed as shifts in the mean and associated statistics along a time axis. This type of evolutionary change has been described and illustrated by many paleontologists, such as Trueman (1922, Fig. 5), Simpson (1953, p. 387), Kurten (1968, p. 239), and George (1971, p. 207). These authors and many others offer a picture of evolution as a progressive series of normal curves on a time axis in which there is a “long and insensibly graded chain of forms” (Eldredge and Gould, 1972). Basically, Eldredge and Gould (1972) criticize this simplistic model of paleontologists because it neither explains the important morphological stasis and gaps in the fossil record nor takes into consideration the major concept of modern systematics, the biological species concept.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Bennett, J., 1960, A comparison of selective methods and a test of the preadaptation hypothesis, Heredity 15:65–77.
Bock, W. J., 1972, Species interaction and macroevolution, Evol. Biol. 5:1–24.
Bryson, R. A., Baerris, D. A., and Wendland, W. M., 1970, The character and late-glacial and post-glacial climatic changes, in: Pleistocene and Recent Environments of the Central Great Plains (W. Dort, Jr., and J. K. Jones, Jr., eds.), pp. 52–73, University of Kansas Press, Lawrence.
Dobzhansky, T. H., 1972, Genetics of the Evolutionary Process, 505 pp., Columbia University Press, New York.
Ehrlich, P. R., and Raven, P. H., 1969, Differentiation of populations, Science 165:1228–1232.
Eldredge, N., and Gould, S. J., 1972, Punctuated equilibria: An alternative to phyletic gradualism, in: Models in Paleobiology, (T. J. M. Schopf, ed.), pp. 82–115, Freeman, Cooper, San Francisco.
Endler, J. A., 1973, Gene flow and population differentiation, Science 179:243–250.
Ford, E. B., 1964, Ecological Genetics, 335 pp., Methuen, London.
George, T. N., 1971, Systematics in palaeontology, J. Geol. Soc. 127:197–245.
Ghiselin, M., 1972, Models in phylogeny, in: Models in Paleobiology (T. J. M. Schopf, ed.), pp. 130–145, Freeman, Cooper, San Francisco.
Gould, S. J., 1972, Allometric fallacies and the evolution of Gryphaea: A new interpretation based on White’s criterion of geometric similarity, Evol. Biol. 6:91–119.
Hecht, M. K., 1965, The role of natural selection and evolutionary rates in the origin of higher levels of organization, Syst. Zool. 14:301–317.
Hubby, J. L., and Lewontin, R., 1966, A molecular approach to the study of genic heterozygosity in natural populations. I. The number of alleles at different loci in Drosophila pseudoobscura, Genetics 54:577–594.
Kettlewell, H. B. D., 1956, Further selection experiments on industrial melanism in the Lepidoptera, Heredity 10:287–301.
Kurten, B., 1957, The bears and hyaenas of the interglacials, Quaternaria 4:1–13.
Kurten, B., 1959, On the bears of the Holsteinian Interglacial, Stockholm Contrib. Geol. 2:73–108.
Kurten, B., 1964, The evolution of the polar bear, Ursus maritimus, Phys. Acta Zool. Fenn. 108:1–26.
Kurten, B., 1968, Pleistocene Mammals of Europe, 317 pp., Aldine, Chicago.
Larsen, T., 1971, Capturing, handling and marking polar bears in Svalbard (Spitzbergen), J. Wildl. Manage. 35(1):27–36.
Larsen, T., 1972a, Norwegian polar bear hunt, management and research, Int. Union Cons. Nat. Nat. Resour. Publ. (n.s.) 23:159–164.
Larsen, T., 1972b, Polar bear research in Norway, Int. Union Cons. Nat. Nat. Resour. Publ. (n.s.) 35:60–65.
Maglio, V., 1972, Evolution of mastication in the Elephantidae, Evolution 26:638–658.
Maglio, V., 1973, Origin and evolution of the Elephantidae, Trans. Am. Phil. Soc. (n.s.) 63:3–149, (Part 3).
Manning, T. H., 1971, Geographical variation in the polar bear Ursus maritimus, Phipps Canad. Wildl. Serv. Rep. Ser. 13:1–27.
Mayr, E., 1956, Geographical character gradients and climatic adaptation, Evolution 10:105–108.
Mayr, E., 1963, Animal Species and Evolution, 797 pp., Belknap Press, Cambridge, Mass.
Norderhaug, M., 1972, Harvest and management of the polar bear in norway 1969–1971, Int. Union Cons. Nat. Nat. Resour. Publ. (n.s.) 35:66–78 (suppl.).
Selander, R. K., Yung, S. Y., Lewontin, R., and Johnson, W. E., 1970, Genetic variation in the horseshoe crab (Limulus polyphemus), a phylogenetic “relic,” Evolution 24(1):402–414.
Simpson, G. G., 1953, The Major Features of Evolution, 434 pp., Columbia University Press, New York.
Simpson, G. G., 1970, Uniformitarianism: An inquiry into principle, theory, and methods in geohistory and biohistory, in: Essays in Evolution and Genetics in Honor of Theodosius Dobzhansky (A Supplement to Evolutionary Biology, M. K. Hecht and W. C. Steere, eds.), pp. 43–96, Appelton-Century-Crofts, New York.
Trueman, A. E., 1922, The use of Gryphaea in the correlation of the Lower Lias, Geol. Mag. 59:256–268.
Wright, S., and Dobzhansky, T., 1946, Genetics of natural populations. XII. Experimental reproduction of some of the changes caused by natural selection in certain populations of Drosophila pseudoobscura, Genetics 31:125–156.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 1974 Plenum Press, New York
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Hecht, M.K., Eldredge, N., Gould, S.J. (1974). Morphological Transformation, the Fossil Record, and the Mechanisms of Evolution: A Debate. In: Dobzhansky, T., Hecht, M.K., Steere, W.C. (eds) Evolutionary Biology. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-6944-2_8
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-6944-2_8
Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA
Print ISBN: 978-1-4615-6946-6
Online ISBN: 978-1-4615-6944-2
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive