saltationism

English

Etymology

saltation +‎ -ism

Noun

saltationism (uncountable)

1. (evolutionary theory) The belief that evolution operates by the sudden development of new species or biological features from one generation to the next.
   • 1986, Richard Dawkins, The Blind Watchmaker‎^[1], W. W. Norton & Company, published 2015, →ISBN:

     Gould has misled himself by his own rhetorical emphasis on the purely poetic or literary resemblance between punctuationism, on the one hand, and true saltationism on the other.

Translations

the belief that evolution operates by the sudden development of new species or biological features

• Portuguese: saltacionismo m

See also

• gradualism
• punctuationism

Further reading

• saltationism on Wikipedia.Wikipedia