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Science 23 May 1969:
Vol. 164. no. 3882, pp. 947 - 949
DOI: 10.1126/science.164.3882.947
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Articles

Generation and Maintenance of Gradients in Taxonomic Diversity

Francis G. Stehli 1, Robert G. Douglas 1, and Norman D. Newell 2

1 Department of Geology, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio 44120
2 American Museum of Natural History, New York 10024

Latitudinal gradients in diversity of organisms represent an equilibrium distribution for at least the last 270 x 106 years. Faunas endemic to tropical regions evolved significantly faster than extra-tropical faunas. The latitude-dependent difference in rates of evolution also represents an equilibrium condition for at least the last 270 x 106 years and has consequences for paleontological correlation of rocks because the attainable resolution depends on rate of evolution and will thus be greater in tropic regions than in extra-tropical ones.


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