The Future of the Fossil Record
David Jablonski
The fossil record provides a powerful basis for analyzing the
controlling factors and impact of biological evolution over a wide
range of temporal and spatial scales and in the context of an evolving
Earth. An increasingly interdisciplinary paleontology has begun to
formulate the next generation of questions, drawing on a wealth of new
data, and on methodological advances ranging from high-resolution
geochronology to simulation of morphological evolution. Key issues
related to evolutionary biology include the biotic and physical factors
that govern biodiversity dynamics, the developmental and ecological
basis for the nonrandom introduction of evolutionary innovations in
time and space, rules of biotic response to environmental
perturbations, and the dynamic feedbacks between life and the Earth's
surface processes. The sensitivity of evolutionary processes to rates,
magnitudes, and spatial scales of change in the physical and biotic
environment will be important in all these areas.
Department of Geophysical Sciences, University of Chicago 5734 South Ellis Avenue Chicago, IL 60637, USA. E-mail:
djablons{at}midway.uchicago.edu
