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Testing for evolutionary equilibria

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  08 April 2016

Richard Cowen  and
William L. Stockton
Richard Cowen
Affiliation:
Department of Geology and Institute of Ecology, University of California; Davis, California 95616
William L. Stockton
Affiliation:
Department of Geology and Institute of Ecology, University of California; Davis, California 95616
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Abstract

Mark and Flessa (1977) have argued that the evolutionary equilibrium hypothesis requires that there should be significant correlation between generic origins and extinctions, and they presented data on Phanerozoic brachiopods and Cenozoic mammals. Their data are re-examined and the correlations are found not to support their version of the evolutionary equilibrium hypothesis. We argue that the equilibrium hypothesis may not be falsifiable using paleontological data.

Type
Research Article
Information
Paleobiology , Volume 4 , Issue 2 , Spring 1978 , pp. 195 - 200
Copyright
Copyright © The Paleontological Society 

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References

Literature Cited

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