The role of developmental bias and plasticity in evolution is a central research interest in evolutionary biology. Studies of these concepts and related processes are usually conducted on extant systems and have seen limited investigation in the fossil record. Here, I identify plasticity‐led evolution (PLE) as a form of developmental bias accessible through scrutiny of paleontological material. I summarize the process of PLE and describe it in terms of the environmentally mediated accumulation and release of cryptic genetic variation. Given this structure, I then predict its manifestation in the fossil record, discuss its similarity to quantum evolution and punctuated equilibrium, and argue that these describe macroevolutionary patterns concordant with PLE. Finally, I suggest methods and directions towards providing evidence of PLE in the fossil record and conclude that such endeavors are likely to be highly rewarding.

中文翻译：

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化石记录中的发展偏见。

发育偏差和可塑性在进化中的作用是进化生物学的主要研究兴趣。这些概念和相关过程的研究通常在现存的系统上进行，并且在化石记录中的研究还很有限。在这里，我将可塑性主导的进化（PLE）识别为一种可通过仔细研究古生物学材料而获得的发展偏见形式。我总结了PLE的过程，并通过环境介导的隐性遗传变异的积累和释放来描述它。有了这种结构，我就可以预测其在化石记录中的表现，讨论其与量子演化和标点平衡的相似性，并认为这些描述了与PLE相一致的宏观进化模式。最后，