Here’s what you’ll learn when you read this story:Is evolution a gradual process or a punctuated one, with rapid evolution taking hold in fits and starts? This supports the idea—first proposed in the early 1970s—of “punctuated equilibrium,” where evolution kicks in rapidly after a period of relative genetic stability. Now, worms are poised to change the world again—this time in a way that even Darwin couldn’t foresee. According to Darwin’s theory, the fossil record should be filled with “missing link” species that display minute differences over time. In an attempt to explain this, punctuated equilibrium posits that rapid evolution can occur periodically after millions of years of relative genetic stability.