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A kill curve for Phanerozoic marine species

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  08 February 2016

David M. Raup
David M. Raup*
Affiliation:
Department of the Geophysical Sciences, University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois 60637
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Abstract

A kill curve for Phanerozoic species is developed from an analysis of the stratigraphic ranges of 17,621 genera, as compiled by Sepkoski. The kill curve shows that a typical species' risk of extinction varies greatly, with most time intervals being characterized by very low risk. The mean extinction rate of 0.25/m.y. is thus a mixture of long periods of negligible extinction and occasional pulses of much higher rate. Because the kill curve is merely a description of the fossil record, it does not speak directly to the causes of extinction. The kill curve may be useful, however, to limit choices of extinction mechanisms.

Type
Articles
Information
Paleobiology , Volume 17 , Issue 1 , Winter 1991 , pp. 37 - 48
Copyright
Copyright © The Paleontological Society 

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