Question

How do dating methods help to support the theory of natural selection and biological evolution? How is it different than Darwin’s original ideas on speciation? Differentiate between absolute and relative dating techniques, giving one example of each. What is punctuated equilibrium?

Answer 1

Dating of the fossil has led to the discovery of species that existed in the past but became extinct. The fossils indicate that the earliest species were different phenotypically and genetically from today's species hence supporting the theory of evolution.

The dating of fossils does not support the gradual modification of organisms into new species as explicated in the theory of evolution and speciation by Darwin. The numerous discovered fossils exhibit a nonconstancy of species without phyletic gradualism.  

On the one hand, relative dating compares two or more fossils and compares their ages relative to one another. Biostratigraphy and stratigraphy techniques are used relative dating. On the other hand, absolute dating uses radiometric dating and carbon dating to ascertain the real age of a fossil. Example of relative dating is comparing the sediment layers of rocks to determine which is older.  An example of absolute dating is the use of half-life of 14C to determine the age of a rock.

Punctuated equilibrium is a counter theory to Darwin's speciation theory. It explicates that species remain constant over a long period of time before a particular period when there emerges numerous variants, some of which survive and some of which become extinct. This is as opposed to the smooth gradual modification of species by Darwin.