What is the trade secret of Paleontology?
Also what is punctuated equilibria?
2007-08-19 13:30:16 · 6 answers · asked by Anonymous in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
It is a way of trying to accommodate data that flies in the face of commonly accepted rules of evolution. In other words, something happened that does not follow the rules of natural selection and is too great to be accommodated by mere mutation. Basically it simply means something that obviously occurred in the sequence of evolutionary events way too fast to be evolution.
One with a suspicious mind might tend to interpret such important yet little discussed phenomena as opening the door to intelligent design or even divine intervention.
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2007-08-19 14:02:34 · answer #1 · answered by Jacob W 7 · 1⤊ 1⤋
According to Stephen J. Gould, the trade secret of Paleontology is the "extreme rarity of transitional forms." This does not mean that there are no transitional forms, only that we haven't found very many.
Punctuated equilibrium is the theory that there are two phases of evolution: the first is a state of equilibrium, where little genetic variation occurs over several generations. The second phase is a period of rapid evolution occurring because of some environmental factor that requires adaptation.
Punctuated equilibrium suggests that we don't find many transitional fossils because there simply aren't very many to be found. Since fossils are rare in the first place, rapid evolution over a small period of time would mean we wouldn't find many transitional fossils because transitional species are around for such a short period of time that several of them simply do not fossilize due to the rarity of fossilization.
A good example of this is the peppered moth example many people have learned about in grade school. The peppered moths were mostly white until the industrial revolution caused light-colored moths to be at a disadvantage. Therefore, the dark-colored moths flourished and dark moths became the norm.
Punctuated equilibria is just the plural of punctuated equilibrium.
2007-08-19 20:43:41 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 3⤊ 0⤋
Paleontology is the study of prehistoric life. There is no "trade secret" and the religious can quit lying through their teeth about it. Its becoming despicable and is making them seem like fools.
Punctuated Equilibria is a theory in evolutionary biology, which states that most sexually reproducing species will show little change for most of their geological history. When phenotypic evolution occurs, it is localized in rare events of branching speciation (called cladogenesis), and occurs relatively quickly compared to the species' full and stable duration on earth.
2007-08-19 20:42:54 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 4⤊ 2⤋
Don't tell me, you're about to quote mine J.E. O'Rourke, "Pragmatism vs. Materialism in Stratigraphy," American Journal of Science, January 1976, p. 48. If you read the article, he points out that no one had, as of the time he published, set out a clear layman's explanation of stratigraphy, and the article lays it out without any circular reasoning.
Punctuated equilibrium means that populations were not steady state. It means that there were environmental shifts and catastrophes. Please don't quote mine Stephen Jay Gould.
2007-08-19 20:51:01 · answer #4 · answered by novangelis 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Paleontology or palaeontology (see Spelling differences) is the study of the history and development of life on Earth, including that of ancient plants and animals, based on the fossil record ...
2007-08-19 20:36:21 · answer #5 · answered by flannelpajamas1 4 · 4⤊ 1⤋
The lack of transitional fossils and sexual reproducing organisms show little to no variation throughout their geological history.
The secret is: no transitional fossils
punctuated equilibrium is: no variation in geological history.
2007-08-19 20:34:58 · answer #6 · answered by L.C. 6 · 4⤊ 3⤋