Punctuated equilibrium at 50: Anything there for evolutionary anthropology? Yes; definitely

The theory of punctuated equilibrium (PE) was developed a little over 50 years ago to explain long-term, large-scale appearance and disappearance of species in the fossil record. A theory designed specifically for that purpose cannot be expected, out of the box, to be directly applicable to biocultural evolution, but in revised form, PE offers a promising approach to incorporating not only a wealth of recent empirical research on genetic, linguistic, and technological evolution but also large databases that document human biological and cultural diversity across time and space. Here we isolate the fundamental components of PE and propose which pieces, when reassembled or renamed, can be highly useful in evolutionary anthropology, especially as humanity faces abrupt ecological challenges on an increasingly larger scale.

Bibliographic Details

Main Authors:	O'Brien, Michael J., Valverde, Sergi, Durán Nebreda, Salva, Vidiella, Blai, Bentley, R. Alexander
Other Authors:	Agència de Gestió d'Ajuts Universitaris i de Recerca
Format:	artículo biblioteca
Language:	English
Published:	John Wiley & Sons 2024-02
Subjects:	Biocultural evolution, Evolutionary drivers, Niles Eldredge, Punctuated equilibrium, Punctuatedevolution, Speciation, Stephen Jay Gould,
Online Access:	http://hdl.handle.net/10261/360988
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