NASA Logo

NTRS

NTRS - NASA Technical Reports Server

Back to Results
Patterns of generic extinction in the fossil recordAnalysis of the stratigraphic records of 19,897 fossil genera indicates that most classes and orders show largely congruent rises and falls in extinction intensity throughout the Phanerozoic. Even an ecologically homogeneous sample of reef genera shows the same basic extinction profile. The most likely explanation for the congruence is that extinction is physically rather than biologically driven and that it is dominated by the effects of geographically widespread environmental perturbations influencing most habitats. Significant departures from the congruence are uncommon but important because they indicate physiological or habitat selectivity. The similarity of the extinction records of reef organisms and the marine biota as a whole confirms that reefs and other faunas are responding to the same history of environmental stress.
Document ID
20040089071
Acquisition Source
Ames Research Center
Document Type
Reprint (Version printed in journal)
Authors
Raup, D. M.
(University of Chicago Illinois 60637, United States)
Boyajian, G. E.
Date Acquired
August 21, 2013
Publication Date
January 1, 1988
Publication Information
Publication: Paleobiology
Volume: 14
Issue: 2
ISSN: 0094-8373
Subject Category
Geosciences (General)
Funding Number(s)
CONTRACT_GRANT: NGT14020-803
CONTRACT_GRANT: NAG2-237
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Other
Keywords
Non-NASA Center
NASA Discipline Exobiology

Available Downloads

There are no available downloads for this record.
No Preview Available