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Resolving time in paleobiology

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  08 April 2016

Anna K. Behrensmeyer  and
David Schindel
Anna K. Behrensmeyer
Affiliation:
Paleobiology, NHB-E206 M.S. 121, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C. 20560
David Schindel
Affiliation:
Peabody Museum of Natural History, Department of Geology and Geophysics, Yale University, P.O. Box 6666, New Haven, Connecticut 06511
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Extract

Time is so fundamental to the everyday thinking of paleobiologists and geologists that it is seldom given close critical attention. Many of the currently debated issues in evolutionary history—catastrophic extinctions and punctuated vs. gradual morphological change, for instance—include assumptions about time and rate which are seldom made explicit. Methods now exist for calibrating evolutionary patterns through estimates of time components in the fossil and sedimentological records. There is a growing realization that increased precision in defining time frameworks can greatly clarify evolutionary problems. This has helped to stimulate renewed interest in the traditional topic of time and how it is represented in the biological and geological record.

Type
Current Happenings
Information
Paleobiology , Volume 9 , Issue 1 , Winter 1983 , pp. 1 - 8
Copyright
Copyright © The Paleontological Society 

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