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Fossil Fern Showcases Ancient Chromosomes
- Thread starter Aegle
- Start date
PowerfulMedicine
Rising Star
This is pretty cool, but exquisite preservation like this is probably more common than people think. This level of permineralization is rare, but there are many deposits like this through out the world, such and the Rhynie Chert in Scotland. And petrified wood forms by the same process.
I think the really interesting thing about this discovery is the implication to evolution. Some people are really attached to the idea that evolution occurs constantly and gradually. But the fossil record has shown many examples of what is called "punctuated equilibrium".
This is a pattern of evolution where periods of evolutionary stasis is interspersed by occasional periods of rapid change. This contrasts the idea that evolution occurs on a gradient and explains the frequent lack of intermediate species in the lineages of fossil organisms.
This doesn't mean that both the gradual and rapid processes don't occur at the same time though. And it often seems that the disagreement is based on differences in scale. Paleontologist tend to look at patterns that occur over the course of many thousands or even millions of years. Biologists look more at the present and short term.
I think the really interesting thing about this discovery is the implication to evolution. Some people are really attached to the idea that evolution occurs constantly and gradually. But the fossil record has shown many examples of what is called "punctuated equilibrium".
This is a pattern of evolution where periods of evolutionary stasis is interspersed by occasional periods of rapid change. This contrasts the idea that evolution occurs on a gradient and explains the frequent lack of intermediate species in the lineages of fossil organisms.
This doesn't mean that both the gradual and rapid processes don't occur at the same time though. And it often seems that the disagreement is based on differences in scale. Paleontologist tend to look at patterns that occur over the course of many thousands or even millions of years. Biologists look more at the present and short term.