Niles Eldredge

American paleontologist

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In Stephen Jay Gould
With Niles Eldredge, he developed in 1972 the theory of punctuated equilibrium, a revision of Darwinian theory proposing that the creation of new species through evolutionary change occurs not at slow, constant rates over millions of years but rather in rapid bursts over periods as short…
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In philosophy of biology: The structure of evolutionary theory
Gould, together with fellow paleontologist Niles Eldredge, developed the theory of “punctuated equilibrium,” according to which evolution occurs in relatively brief periods of significant and rapid change followed by long periods of relative stability, or “stasis.” Such a view could never have been inferred from studies of small-scale or short-term…
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In mutation theory
paleontologists Stephen Jay Gould and Niles Eldredge’s punctuated equilibrium theory. Those ideas not only remained faithful to the saltationist basis for new species formation but also championed de Vries’s devotion to the pure Darwinian belief that allvariation proves beneficial. In doing so, mutationist theories recognized alternative viable organismic formations (often…
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