Considering the Case for Biodiversity Cycles: Re-Examining Periodicity in the Fossil Record
First published: 2007
Brief summary
Re-analysis of Phanerozoic fossil diversity data confirms a robust ~62 million year periodicity in biodiversity, and finds supporting evidence for a ~27 Myr periodicity in origination and extinction.
Article
Considering the Case for Biodiversity Cycles: Re-Examining Periodicity in the Fossil Record is a peer-reviewed journal article published by PLOS ONE in 2007. It re-analyses Phanerozoic fossil diversity data and confirms a robust ~62 million year periodicity in biodiversity, and finds supporting evidence for a ~27 Myr periodicity in origination and extinction.
The analysis focuses on ~62 Myr (biodiversity), ~27 Myr (origination/extinction). It also considers statistical re-analysis of published Phanerozoic fossil record data. This gives the cycle claim a specific numerical and evidential setting rather than presenting periodicity only as a visual impression.
The authors re-examine the evidence for a 62 million year periodicity in biodiversity throughout the Phanerozoic history of animal life, and find that the signal is robust against variations in methods of analysis. The interpretation is strongest when it survives dating uncertainty, preservation bias, alternative event selections and correction for multiple statistical tests.
For cycles researchers, the article brings together biodiversity cycles, fossil diversity, 62-million-year cycle, extinction periodicity. It is relevant to debates over whether recurring patterns in the geological record reflect astronomical forcing, internal Earth processes, preservation bias or dating uncertainty.
Because it is a peer-reviewed journal article, the article is a strong starting point for discussion in the Geology & Paleontology forum, although its conclusions should still be compared with later replications and updated datasets.
Source details and credits
- Source / publisher: PLOS ONE
- Source type: Peer-reviewed journal article
- URL type: WWW
- Credits: PLOS ONE
- URL: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0000759