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Some comments on Van Valen's law of extinction

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  25 May 2016

Stanley N. Salthe
Stanley N. Salthe*
Affiliation:
Department of Biology, Brooklyn College of the City University of New York, Brooklyn, N. Y. 11210
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Abstract

The linear survivorship curve of Van Valen's Law can be generated from stochastic loss of lineages, given a decreasing sample size within an adaptive zone. No special biological explanation is required or called for in order to explain “linearity” in taxonomic survivorship curves.

Type
Research Article
Information
Paleobiology , Volume 1 , Issue 4 , Fall 1975 , pp. 356 - 358
Copyright
Copyright © The Paleontological Society 

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References

Literature Cited

Fisher, R. A. 1929. The genetical theory of natural selection. 1958 edition. Dover; New York.Google Scholar
Raup, D. M. 1975. Taxonomic survivorship curves and Van Valen's law. Paleobiology. 1:82–96.Google Scholar
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Van Valen, L. 1973. A new evolutionary law. Evol. Theory. 1:1–30.Google Scholar
Van Valen, L. 1974. Molecular evolution as predicted by natural selection. J. Mol. Evol. 3:89–101.Google Scholar