Hostname: page-component-76d6cb85b7-2r2wp Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2026-07-15T14:25:29.984Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

A provincial model of Phanerozoic marine diversity

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  08 April 2016

James W. Valentine ,
Theodore C. Foin  and
David Peart
James W. Valentine
Affiliation:
Department of Geological Sciences, University of California; Santa Barbara, California 93106
Theodore C. Foin
Affiliation:
Division of Environmental Studies, University of California; Davis, California 95616
David Peart
Affiliation:
Division of Environmental Studies, University of California; Davis, California 95616
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Much new empirical evidence on the levels of Phanerozoic paleoprovinciality and of species diversity within paleocommunities now permits a reevaluation of marine diversity patterns. Data on paleoprovincial patterns are assembled from the literature and evaluated by means of a stochastic computer simulation model. The simulation is based on the statistics of modern patterns of diversity and endemism extrapolated conservatively to the paleoprovincial patterns and on estimates of species duration from the fossil record. The species diversities associated with the paleoprovincial patterns are then corrected for temporal changes in species packing in communities as determined by Bambach (1977) from studies of paleocommunities. The model thus has an empirical basis throughout. Furthermore it is free of biases that can arise due to the differential preservation of taxa in space and time.

The Paleozoic and Mesozoic were characterized by low provinciality and low average species diversity, on the order of 38,000 to 40,000 species, although there were significant fluctuations in standing diversities. In the Cenozoic, provinciality rose markedly, primarily through the appearance of latitudinal provincial chains, and average species diversity rose to about 240,000. Today it stands over 350,000; this is an order of magnitude greater than the Paleozoic average.

Information

Type
Research Article
Information
Paleobiology , Volume 4 , Issue 1 , Winter 1978 , pp. 55 - 66
Copyright
Copyright © The Paleontological Society 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Article purchase

Temporarily unavailable

References

Literature Cited

Bambach, R. K. 1977. Species richness in marine benthic habitats through the Phanerozoic. Paleobiology. 3:152–167.Google Scholar
Boucot, A. J. 1975. Evolution and Extinction Rate Controls. 427 pp. Elsevier Sci. Publ. Co.; Amsterdam, Oxford and New York.Google Scholar
Boucot, A. J. and Johnson, J. G. 1973. Silurian brachiopods. Pp. 59–65. In: Hallam, A., ed. Atlas of Palaeobiogeography. Elsevier Sci. Publ. Co.; Amsterdam, London, New York.Google Scholar
Campbell, C. A. and Valentine, J. W. 1977. Comparability of modern and ancient marine faunal provinces. Paleobiology. 3:49–57.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Coomans, H. E. 1962. The marine mollusk fauna of the Virginia area as a basis for defining zoo-geographical provinces. Beaufortia. 9:85–104.Google Scholar
Douglas, R. G. and Savin, S. M. 1973. Oxygen carbon isotope analysis of Cretaceous and Tertiary foraminifera from the central north Pacific. In: Winterer, E. L., J. I. Ewing, et al. Initial Rep. Deep Sea Drilling Proj. 17:591–605.Google Scholar
Durham, J. W. 1950. Cenozoic marine climates of the Pacific coast. Bull. Geol. Soc. Am. 61:1243–2364.Google Scholar
Durham, J. W. 1952. Early Tertiary marine faunas and continental drift. Am. J. Sci. 250:321–343.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ekman, S. 1953. Zoogeography of the Sea. 417 pp. Sidgwick and Jackson; London.Google Scholar
Foin, T. C. 1976. Plate tectonics and the biogeography of the Cypraeidae (Mollusca Gastropoda). J. Biogeogr. 3:19–34.Google Scholar
Foin, T. C., Peart, D., and Valentine, J. W.In preparation. Taxonomic survivorship in the fossil record: analysis by computer simulation.Google Scholar
Fortey, R. A. 1973. Early Ordovician trilobite communities. Fossils and Strata. 4:339–360.Google Scholar
Gordon, W. A. 1975. Origin of the Mesozoic Boreal realm. Geol. Mag. 112:199–201.Google Scholar
Hallam, A., ed. 1973. Atlas of Palaeobiogeography. 531 pp. Elsevier Sci. Publ. Co.; Amsterdam, London and New York.Google Scholar
Harland, W. B., et al., eds. 1967. The Fossil Record. 827 pp. Geol. Soc.; London.Google Scholar
Hazel, J. E. 1970. Ostracode zoogeography in the southern Nova Scotian and northern Virginian Faunal provinces. U.S. Geol. Surv., Prof. Pap. 529-E. 21 pp.Google Scholar
Hill, D. 1973. Lower Carboniferous corals. Pp. 133–142. In: Hallam, A., ed. Atlas of Palaeobiogeography. Elsevier Sci. Publ. Co.; Amsterdam, London and New York.Google Scholar
Jell, P. A. 1974. Faunal provinces and possible planetary reconstruction of the Middle Cambrian. J. Geol. 82:319–350.Google Scholar
Johnson, J. G. and Boucot, A. J. 1973. Devonian brachiopods. Pp. 89–96. In: Hallam, A., ed. Atlas of Palaeobiogeography. Elsevier Sci. Publ. Co.; Amsterdam, London and New York.Google Scholar
Kauffman, E. G. 1973. Cretaceous Bivalvia. Pp. 353–384. In: Hallam, A., ed. Atlas of Palaeobiogeography. Elsevier Sci. Publ. Co.; Amsterdam, London and New York.Google Scholar
Keen, A. M. 1971. Sea shells of tropical west America. 2nd ed.1064 pp. Stanford Univ. Press.; Stanford, Calif.Google Scholar
Kummel, B. 1973. Lower Triassic (Scycthian) Molluscs. Pp. 225–233. In: Hallam, A., ed. Atlas of Palaeobiogeography, Elsevier Sci. Publ. Co.; Amsterdam, London and New York.Google Scholar
MacArthur, R. H. 1965. Patterns of species diversity. Biol. Rev. 40:510–533.Google Scholar
Macdonald, K. B. 1976. Paleocommunities: toward some confidence limits. Pp. 87–106. In: Scott, R. W. and West, R. R.Structure and Classification of Paleocommunities. Dowden, Hutchinson and Ross; Stroudsburg, Pa.Google Scholar
McAlester, A. L. 1963. Pelecypods as stratigraphic guides in the Appalachian Upper Devonian. Geol. Soc. Am. Bull. 74:1209–1224.Google Scholar
Newell, N. D. 1952. Periodicity in invertebrate evolution. J. Paleontol. 26:371–385.Google Scholar
Newell, N. D. 1967. Revolutions in the history of life. Geol. Soc. Am. Spec. Pap. 89:63–91.Google Scholar
Nicol, D. 1953. Period of existence of some late Cenozoic pelecypods. J. Paleontol. 27:706–707.Google Scholar
Ormiston, A. R. 1972. Lower and middle Devonian trilobite zoogeography in North America. 24th Int. Geol. Cong. 7:594–604.Google Scholar
Palmer, A. R. 1973. Cambrian trilobites. Pp. 3–18. In: Hallam, A., ed. Atlas of Palaeobiogeography. Elsevier Sci. Publ. Co.; Amsterdam, London and New York.Google Scholar
Raup, D. M. 1972. Taxonomic diversity during the Phanerozoic. Science. 177:1065–1071.Google Scholar
Raup, D. M. 1976a. Species diversity in the Phanerozoic: a tabulation. Paleobiology. 3:279–288.Google Scholar
Raup, D. M. 1976b. Species diversity in the Phanerozoic: an interpretation. Paleobiology. 3:289–297.Google Scholar
Rosen, B. R. 1971. The distribution of reef coral genera in the Indian Ocean. Symp. Zool. Soc. London. 28:263–299.Google Scholar
Runnegar, B. and Campbell, K. S. W. 1976. Late Palaeozoic faunas of Australia. Earth-Sci. Rev. 12:235–251.Google Scholar
Schilder, F. A. 1949. Statistical notes on malacology. Proc. Malacol Soc. London. 27:259–261.Google Scholar
Shackleton, N. J. and Kennett, J. P. 1975. Paleotemperature history of the Cenozoic and the initiation of Antarctic glaciation: oxygen and carbon isotope analyses in DSDP sites 277, 279, and 281. In: Kennett, J. P., R. E. Houtz et al. Initial Rep. Deep Sea Drilling Proj. 24:743–755.Google Scholar
Simpson, G. G. 1952. How many species? Evolution. 6:342.Google Scholar
Smith, A. G., Briden, J. C. and Drewry, G. E. 1973. Phanerozoic world maps. In: Hughes, N. F., ed. Organisms and Continents Through Time. Spec. Pap. Palaeontol. 12:1–42.Google Scholar
Stevens, G. R. 1965. Faunal realms in Jurassic and Cretaceous belemnites. Geol. Mag. 102:175–178.Google Scholar
Stevens, G. R. 1973. Jurassic belemnites. Pp. 259–274. In: Hallam, A., ed. Atlas of Palaeobiogeography. Elsevier Sci. Publ. Co.; Amsterdam, London and New York.Google Scholar
Thorson, G. 1962. The distribution of benthic marine mollusca along the N. E. Atlantic shelf from Gibraltar to Murmansk. Pp. 5–23. Proc. 1st Europ. Malacol. Congr.Google Scholar
Valentine, J. W. 1966. Numerical analysis of marine molluscan ranges on the extratropical northeastern Pacific shelf. Limnol. and Oceanogr. 11:198–211.Google Scholar
Valentine, J. W. 1967. The influence of climatic fluctuations on species diversity within the Tethyan provincial system. In: Adams, C. G. and Ager, D. V., eds. Aspects of Tethyan Biogeography. Syst. Assoc. Publ. 7:153–166.Google Scholar
Valentine, J. W. 1968. The evolution of ecological units above the population level. J. Paleontol. 42:253–267.Google Scholar
Valentine, J. W. 1969. Patterns of taxonomic and ecological structure of the shelf benthos during Phanerozoic time. Paleontology. 12:684–709.Google Scholar
Valentine, J. W. 1970. How many marine invertebrate species? A new approximation. J. Paleontol. 44:410–415.Google Scholar
Valentine, J. W. 1971. Plate tectonics and shallow marine diversity and endemism, an actualistic model. Syst. Zool. 20:253–264.Google Scholar
Valentine, J. W. 1973a. Phanerozoic taxonomic diversity: a test of alternate models. Science. 180:1078–1079.Google Scholar
Valentine, J. W. 1973b. Evolutionary Paleoecology of the Marine Biosphere. 511 pp. Prentice-Hall, Inc.; Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey.Google Scholar
Valentine, J. W. 1973c. Plates and provinciality, a theoretical history of environmental discontinuities. In: Hughes, N. F., ed. Organisms and Continents Through Time. Spec. Pap. Palaeontol. 12:79–92.Google Scholar
Van Valen, L. 1973. A new evolutionary law. Evol. Theory. 1:1–30.Google Scholar
Waterhouse, J. B. and Bonham-Carter, G. F. 1975. Global distribution and character of Permian biomes based on brachiopod assemblages. Can. J. Earth Sci. 12:1085–1146.Google Scholar
Whittaker, R. H. 1960. Vegetation of the Siskiyou Mountains, Oregon and California. Ecol. Mongr. 30:279–338.Google Scholar
Whittaker, R. H. 1965. Dominance and diversity in land plant communities. Science. 147:250–260.Google Scholar
Whittington, H. B. 1973. Ordovician trilobites. Pp. 12–18. In Hallam, A., ed. Atlas of Palaeobiogeography. Elsevier Sci. Publ. Co.; Amsterdam, London and New York.Google Scholar
Wiedmann, J. 1973. Upper Triassic heteromorph ammonites. Pp. 235–249. In: Hallam, A., ed. Atlas of Palaeobiogeography. Elsevier Sci. Publ. Co.; Amsterdam, London, and New York.Google Scholar
Yancey, T. E. 1975. Permian marine biotic provinces in North America. J. Paleontol. 49:758–766.Google Scholar