>[!abstract] >**Punctuated equilibrium** is an evolutionary theory proposing that species experience long periods of stability (stasis) with little change, interrupted by brief, rapid bursts of significant evolutionary change and speciation. Proposed by Niles Eldredge and Stephen Jay Gould in 1972, it challenges strict phyletic gradualism by focusing on abrupt, branching evolution. >[!related] >- **North** (upstream): — >- **West** (similar): — >- **East** (different): — >- **South** (downstream): —