What is the theory of punctuated equilibrium?
” Answer: Punctuated Equilibrium refers to a concept in evolutionary biology that is both controversial and widely misunderstood. Both punctuated equilibrium and its alternatives have significant drawbacks, either in plausibility or evidence. Punctuated equilibrium seeks to reconcile the idea of natural evolution with the missing links in the fossil record. The debate within science over the validity of punctuated equilibrium demonstrates many of the problems with evolutionary theory in general. Punctuated equilibrium attempts to answer a major problem with the fossil record. For almost a century, naturalistic science assumed that the gaps in the fossil record would eventually be filled, and there would be a semi-complete record of so-called transitional forms between the various species. In fact, the opposite happened, and the gaps became even more pronounced. The actual fossil record indicates species seemingly appearing from nowhere, and without the long, slow, gradual changes expec