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Science 7 November 2003:
Vol. 302. no. 5647, pp. 1030 - 1032
DOI: 10.1126/science.1089719
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Reports

Increased Longevities of Post-Paleozoic Marine Genera After Mass Extinctions

Arnold I. Miller1* and Michael Foote2

Cohorts of marine taxa that originated during recoveries from mass extinctions were commonly more widespread spatially than those originating at other times. Coupled with the recognition of a correlation between the geographic ranges and temporal longevities of marine taxa, this observation predicts that recovery taxa were unusually long-lived geologically. We analyzed this possibility by assessing the longevities of marine genus cohorts that originated in successive substages throughout the Phanerozoic. Results confirm that several mass extinction recovery cohorts were significantly longer lived than other cohorts, but this effect was limited to the post-Paleozoic, suggesting differences in the dynamics of Paleozoic versus post-Paleozoic diversification.

1 Department of Geology, University of Cincinnati, Post Office Box 210013, Cincinnati, OH 45221–0013, USA.
2 Department of the Geophysical Sciences, University of Chicago, 5734 South Ellis Avenue, Chicago, IL 60637, USA.

* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: arnold.miller{at}uc.edu

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