Actually, most modern scientists no longer consider Darwin’s specific evolutionary model to be valid anymore, and haven’t for some time. The most recent discoveries (within the last 20-30 years or so) tend to support the “punctuated equilibrium” theory, where long periods of relative stasis are overturned by dramatic shifts in morphology over short periods of time.
Good evening Freepers!
Within recorded history we have earthquakes, volcanoes, lightning storms and every other sort of thing and we never see new animals on account of any such so that you'd figure you'd need to be talking about the sort of catastrophes you read about in the Bible to even start to think along such lines; but even Velikovsky and his followers were never talking about more than a dozen or so such catastrophes in the planet's history.
So, Stephen J Gould is right...... the evolutionary process can involve punctuated equilibrium.
That is, an evolutionary flow has fluctuation and is not constrained by a straight jacketed steady state imposed by some.
Isn’t this like saying that Newton’s theory of gravity is no longer supported by modern quantum physicists? Doesn’t negate what Newton supported, simply adds more knowledge about the overall subject.
