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The Meaning of Biotic Succession

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 July 2017

Richard K. Bambach
Richard K. Bambach*
Affiliation:
Department of Geological Sciences, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, Virginia 24061-0420, email [email protected]
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Abstract

Determination of the time sequence in the geologic record is a logical process that involves little “guesswork.” The geologic time scale is real, not a circular argument developed to show evolution. By applying Occam's Razor and assuming continuity, it is clear that biotic succession in apparent lineages demonstrates that species are capable of giving rise to others through modification with descent and have done so through geologic time. Although the fossil record is incomplete, biotic succession on a large scale provides a clear and unambiguous outline of the history of the change in life over time.

Science seeks explanations for observations and facts that begin as hypotheses. When hypotheses successfully survive rigorous testing, they mature into accepted theories. Evolution is the theory accepted as the explanation for the facts of biotic succession. The operational processes invoked in the theory of evolution (such as mutation, natural selection, isolation, and genetic drift) have been successfully tested many times. The general pattern of biotic succession follows the path expected or predicted for the course of the evolutionary development of the biosphere.

The biotic succession is the preserved result of the operation of the processes of organic evolution. Contributions from molecular biology and cladistics make it clear that the branching processes in evolution, operating over time, have produced all the diversity preserved in the fossil record. The current diversity of life is simply the product of its three and a half billion year history.

Type
Teaching Evolution Convincingly and with Clarity
Information
The Paleontological Society Papers , Volume 5: The Evolution-Creation Controversy II: Perspectives on Science, Religion, and Geological Education , October 1999 , pp. 23 - 46
Copyright
Copyright © 1999 by The Paleontological Society 

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