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"Darwin’s theory, a staple in science curriculums, states that evolution in organisms occurs gradually over time. His theory also states that gaps in the fossil record, in which there are missing links between the different phases of evolution in organisms are temporary because the linking fossils haven’t been found yet."

Actually, Darwin said that a great deal of the transitionals would never be found because of the vagaries of fossilization. He also wrote of evolution working in spurts and slowing down; his theory wasn't as gradual as some later evolutionary biologists thought.

"If the fossil record weren't problematic for Darwinian evolution, which predicts slow and gradual change, why are scientists like Schwartz and Stephen Jay Gould (whose expertise on the subject far outstrip yours, I would assume) trying to work out models of Punctuated Equillibrium?"

PE isn't nearly as sudden as some anti-evolutionists think. We are still talking about speciation happening in tens of thousands of years. As I alluded to above, Darwin did not demand that evolution proceed at a constant pace.

"No tap-dancing required; even scientists who believe in evolution recognize that the fossil record does not evidence slow change over time, but millions of years of stasis combined with sudden shifts in morphology."

This is consistent with new advances in genetics and embryology. Also, the DNA evidence from genome sequencing has introduced an entire new area to verify common descent. In essence, various gene markers are becoming new *fossil* evidence and are filling in a lot of the gaps in the fossil bone record.

Hey, CG. Sorry I've not gotten back to you. I'll try to give a good response to both of your posts as soon as I've got a free hour or two to work on it. Right now, I only have time for stuff I can do off the top of my head.

For now, I'm just going to point out that the fossil record most definitely does not support smooth and gradual transitions over time, but rather millions of years of stasis followed by sudden "leaps" in evolution--that's why Gould came up with Punctuated Equilibrium, to explain the lack of smooth transitions.