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Science 10 November 2006:
Vol. 314. no. 5801, p. 925
DOI: 10.1126/science.1130073
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Technical Comments

Comment on "Statistical Independence of Escalatory Ecological Trends in Phanerozoic Marine Invertebrates"

Peter D. Roopnarine,1* Kenneth D. Angielczyk,2 Rachel Hertog1

The analysis of Madin et al. (Reports, 12 May 2006, p. 897) of Phanerozoic diversity failed to support expected correlations between carnivores and noncarnivores, leading the authors to reject escalation as an important macroevolutionary process. The test, however, is based on a flawed model of causality, and the ecological groups are improperly delineated with regard to the hypothesis.

1 Department of Invertebrate Zoology and Geology, California Academy of Sciences, 875 Howard Street, San Francisco, CA 94103, USA.
2 Department of Earth Sciences, University of Bristol, Wills Memorial Building, Queens Road, Bristol BS8 1RJ, UK.

* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: proopnarine{at}calacademy.org

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THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
From the Cover: Strong coupling of predation intensity and diversity in the Phanerozoic fossil record.
J. W. Huntley and M. Kowalewski (2007)
PNAS 104, 15006-15010
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