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Patterns of macroevolution through the P hanerozoic
Author(s) -
Seilacher Adolf
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
palaeontology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.69
H-Index - 63
eISSN - 1475-4983
pISSN - 0031-0239
DOI - 10.1111/pala.12073
Subject(s) - macroevolution , extinction event , phanerozoic , diversification (marketing strategy) , ecological niche , paleontology , ecology , extinction (optical mineralogy) , clade , biology , ecosystem , biome , evolutionary biology , phylogenetic tree , cenozoic , demography , sociology , structural basin , marketing , habitat , biological dispersal , population , biochemistry , gene , business
Evolution is seen as a future‐blind process driven by ecology. At geological time scales (macroevolution), complex ecosystems (including parasites) have caused periods of relative stasis, while evolutionary change may be fostered by two kinds of exceptional situation: (1) after an extinction event, the availability of open niches gave innovative groups the chance to gain ecologic power; (2) a climatically controlled Golden Age before the event allowed D arwinian optimization to exceed the constructional limits of established bauplans. Increasing specialization, however, automatically raised the vulnerability towards biologically unforeseeable events, because niches become narrower, and conservative (plesiomorphic) features happen to become fatal ‘ A chilles’ heels’ under unusual conditions. The interplay between D arwinian diversification and extinctional counter‐evolution results in cascading clade histories that resemble individual life cycles without any teleonomic underpinnings.