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Phanerozoic marine diversity and the fossil record

Nature volume 293, pages 435–437 (1981)Cite this article

Abstract

Strong correlations between various local and global estimates of Phanerozoic marine diversity for taxa below the ordinal level indicate a single pattern of change underlying all data on fossil density. Geological time alone seems insufficient to explain all of the significant covariation among the data sets, and it is proposed that the common pattern in diversity reflects the signal from a real evolutionary phenomenon strong enough to overcome the biases inherent in the fossil record.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of the Geophysical Sciences, University of Chicago, 5734 South Ellis Avenue, Chicago, Illinois, 60637, USA

    J. John Sepkoski Jr

  2. Department of Geological Sciences, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, Virginia, 24061, USA

    Richard K. Bambach

  3. Field Museum of Natural History, Roosevelt Road at Lake Shore Drive, Chicago, Illinois, 60605, USA

    David M. Raup

  4. Department of Geological Sciences, University of California, Santa Barbara, California, 93106, USA

    James W. Valentine

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  1. J. John Sepkoski Jr
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  2. Richard K. Bambach
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  3. David M. Raup
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  4. James W. Valentine
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Sepkoski, J., Bambach, R., Raup, D. et al. Phanerozoic marine diversity and the fossil record. Nature 293, 435–437 (1981). https://doi.org/10.1038/293435a0

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