The Oxford evolutionist and zoologist Mark Ridley describes the evolutionary school of thought of phyletic gradualism in the following manner:
| “ | Phyletic gradualism is a hypothesis about the pattern of evolution. In contrast to the theory of punctuated equilibrium, it states the following:
• Evolution has a fairly constant rate. • New species arise by the gradual transformation of ancestral species. • The rate of evolution during the origin of new species is much like that at any other time.[1] |
” |
The evolutionary school of thought of phyletic gradualism is not supported by the fossil record.