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1: Science. 2008 Jul 4;321(5885):97-100.
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Comment in:
Phanerozoic trends in the global diversity of marine invertebrates.

Alroy J, Aberhan M, Bottjer DJ, Foote M, Fürsich FT, Harries PJ, Hendy AJ, Holland SM, Ivany LC, Kiessling W, Kosnik MA, Marshall CR, McGowan AJ, Miller AI, Olszewski TD, Patzkowsky ME, Peters SE, Villier L, Wagner PJ, Bonuso N, Borkow PS, Brenneis B, Clapham ME, Fall LM, Ferguson CA, Hanson VL, Krug AZ, Layou KM, Leckey EH, Nürnberg S, Powers CM, Sessa JA, Simpson C, Tomasovych A, Visaggi CC.

National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis, University of California-Santa Barbara, 735 State Street, Santa Barbara, CA 93101, USA. alroy@nceas.ucsb.edu

It has previously been thought that there was a steep Cretaceous and Cenozoic radiation of marine invertebrates. This pattern can be replicated with a new data set of fossil occurrences representing 3.5 million specimens, but only when older analytical protocols are used. Moreover, analyses that employ sampling standardization and more robust counting methods show a modest rise in diversity with no clear trend after the mid-Cretaceous. Globally, locally, and at both high and low latitudes, diversity was less than twice as high in the Neogene as in the mid-Paleozoic. The ratio of global to local richness has changed little, and a latitudinal diversity gradient was present in the early Paleozoic.

Publication Types:
PMID: 18599780 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]