LIFE SCIENCE

Detailed explanation-1: -In evolutionary biology, punctuated equilibrium (also called punctuated equilibria) is a theory that proposes that once a species appears in the fossil record, the population will become stable, showing little evolutionary change for most of its geological history.

Detailed explanation-2: -Punctuated equilibrium holds that the great majority of species originate in geological moments (punctuations) and persist in stasis. The idea was hotly debated because it forced biologists to rethink entrenched ideas about evolutionary patterns and processes.

Detailed explanation-3: -noun. : evolution that is characterized by long periods of stability in the characteristics of an organism and short periods of rapid change during which new forms appear especially from small subpopulations of the ancestral form in restricted parts of its geographic range.

Detailed explanation-4: -Punctuated equilibrium occurs because genetic variations are passed down quicker, thus increasing the rate of evolution, and speciation. Tyrannosaurid fossils and Mollusks in the Turkana Basin are examples of punctuated equilibrium.

Detailed explanation-5: -The theory of punctuated equilibrium states that evolutionary change is characterised by short periods of rapid evolution followed by longer periods of stasis in which no change occurs.