Evolution (Introduction)

by George Jelliss , Crewe, Monday, July 20, 2009, 12:00 (5401 days ago) @ David Turell

I think you are misrepresenting "punctuated equilibria". I looked it up here: - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Punctuated_equilibrium#Common_misconceptions - Quote: "The relationship between punctuationism and gradualism can be better appreciated by considering an example. Suppose the average length of a limb in a particular species grows 50 centimeters (20 inches) over 70,000 years—a large amount in a geologically short period of time. If the average generation is seven years, then our given time span corresponds to 10,000 generations. It is therefore reasonable to conclude that if the limb size in our hypothetical population evolved in the most conservative manner, it need only increase at a rate of 0.005 cm per generation (= 50 cm/10,000), despite its abrupt appearance in the geological record." - This is clearly the case with the changes observed in the whale ancestors. No radical surgery is involved!

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GPJ