He also became curator of invertebrate paleontology at Harvard's Museum of Comparative Zoology. While teaching biology and geology at Harvard, he expanded his study of land snails to the West Indies and other parts of the world.
In the early 1970s, Gould introduced his most noted contribution to evolutionary theory, the concept of punctuated equilibrium, which he developed with fellow paleontologist Niles Eldredge. The theory runs counter to a central postulate of Darwinian evolution commonly known as phyletic gradualism. Darwin assumed that adaptations in species are the result of a continuous process of gradual change. Eldredge and Gould theorized that evolution is not quite so orderly but is characterized by largely stable periods, punctuated by "moments" of massive change. During such periods of change species evolve abruptly and new adaptations appear in riotous profusion. Concerned with the revelatory power of oddities in nature, Gould proposed that unpredictable events alter the course of natural history. He found the imperfections of nature significant where other scientists disregarded their evolutionary impact. Phyletic gradualism has always been plagued by a lack of fossil evidence of transitional species; this dearth has been comprehended as gaps in the fossil record.
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