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Getting the measure of diversity

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  08 April 2016

Andrew B. Smith
Andrew B. Smith*
Affiliation:
Department of Palaeontology, The Natural History Museum, Cromwell Road, London SW7 5BD, United Kingdom. E-mail: a.smith@nhm.ac.uk
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Extract

Paleontological data have for long been paramount in providing a long-term perspective on global biodiversity. But all is not as simple and secure as it once seemed. Apparently rapid diversification events recorded in the fossil record have been challenged by new molecular data (Bromham et al. 1999; Wray 2001; reviewed in Smith and Peterson 2002), certain mass extinctions are not as well founded as was previously supposed (Smith et al. 2001; Peters and Foote 2002b), and even such a deeply cherished belief as the long-term trend of increasing diversity through the Phanerozoic is once again under question (Alroy et al. 2001; Peters and Foote 2002a). Why is the fossil record not currently providing us with reliable, clear-cut data, and what can be done to correct the situation?

Type
Matters of the Records
Information
Paleobiology , Volume 29 , Issue 1 , Winter 2003 , pp. 34 - 36
Copyright
Copyright © The Paleontological Society 

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References

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