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The Three Heavily Skeletonized Evolutionary Faunas Of Phanerozoic Marine Taxa
Redrawn from Sepkoski, J.J. Jr, 1984, A kinetic model of Phanerozoic taxonomic diversity, III.
Post Paleozoic families and mass extinctions: Paleobiology 10:246-267. ![]() Observe at the end of the Cambrian the Cambrian fauna (yellow) begins to decline, while the Paleozoic fauna (green) explodes in abundance and diversity in the Ordovician. The transition was not accompanied by a significant extinction (the 5 numbered arrows) and the exact causes of the change are still strongly debated. However, the change in the fossil record results in a significant change in the rock record, especially for carbonate rocks. The earth, and geology will never be the same again. |
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Last Update: 9/13/00 |