Using dating methods is essential in understanding how some species were able to survive by adaptation and natural selection and how others became extinct. Using fossils can indicate the species that existed nearly a billion years ago by analyzing their genetic makeup and phenotype. The analysis can be able to explain how some survived while others could not. Dating methods can be able to track whether certain environmental factors enhanced survival such as the climatic patterns (Larsen).

Punctuated equilibrium is a theory which explains that species take a long period of evolutionary stability and which they became interrupted during certain times by rapid evolutionary changes.  Niles Eldredge and Stephen Jay Gould developed the theory. Punctuated equilibrium is a counter of Darwin’s speciation theory which indicates that the organisms undergo gradual variations to form two distinctive species (Larsen).

Absolute dating technique involves determining the age of a fossil.  Absolute dating is essential for it can determine the actual age of a rock by using half-life of 14C. An example of an Absolute dating method is fission track dating. Relative dating method involves the comparison of two or more fossils. The two fossils then compare their ages relative to each other. An example of relative dating is thermoluminescence dating  (Larsen).

Works Cited

Larsen, Clark Spencer. “Our Origins: Discovering Physical Anthropology.” Fossils and Their Place in Time and Nature. 4th. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 2017.