HOW FAST DOES SPECIATION OCCUR?

Gradual changes (Darwin): steady accumulation of small changes over a long period of time Stasis: no changes over a long period of time (Example: Coelacanth) Very fast speciation (Examples: Darwin Finches on Galapagos Cichlid Fish in East African Lakes

It was suggested that rate of evolution is usually a mixture between the extremes:
PUNCTUATED EQUILIBRIUM (proposed by Eldredge and Gould)

Found in some but not all cases; thus it has to be taken serious, but it might not be an universal characteristic of the rate of evolution

Example: Radiolaria