Gaps(a break in continuity) in the fossil record were used to explain why it is difficult to see continuous small changes in the evolution of species.
就是说因为缺失,所以没有看到渐变
Gradualism, with its stress on the slow pace of change, is a comforting position, repeated over and over again in generations of textbooks.
Darwin`s evolutionary thesis was rejected because small changes could not be observed in the evolutionary record.
就是说,虽然这是事实的缺陷,但是人们的态度是支持的
The punctuated equilibrium hypothesis challenged gradualism, which holds that species evolve in relatively sudden bursts of brief duration.
Which 就近修饰