Insect diversity in the fossil record

Insects possess a surprisingly extensive fossil record. Compilation of the geochronologic ranges of insect families demonstrates that their diversity exceeds that of preserved vertebrate tetrapods through 91 percent of their evolutionary history. The great diversity of insects was achieved not by high origination rates but rather by low extinction rates comparable to the low rates of slowly evolving marine invertebrate groups. The great radiation of modern insects began 245 million years ago and was not accelerated by the expansion of angiosperms during the Cretaceous period. The basic trophic machinery of insects was in place nearly 100 million years before angiosperms appeared in the fossil record.     

Mass extinctions in the marine fossil record

A new compilation of fossil data on invertebrate and vertebrate families indicates that four mass extinctions in the marine realm are statistically distinct from background extinction levels. These four occurred late in the Ordovician, Permian, Triassic, and Cretaceous periods. A fifth extinction event in the Devonian stands out from the background but is not statistically significant in these data. Background extinction rates appear to have declined since Cambrian time, which is consistent with the prediction that optimization of fitness should increase through evolutionary time.     

Trace metals as biomarkers for eumelanin pigment in the fossil record

Well-preserved fossils of pivotal early bird and nonavian theropod species have provided unequivocal evidence for feathers and/or downlike integuments. Recent studies have reconstructed color on the basis of melanosome structure; however, the chemistry of these proposed melanosomes has remained unknown. We applied synchrotron x-ray techniques to several fossil and extant organisms, including Confuciusornis sanctus, in order to map and characterize possible chemical residues of melanin pigments. Results show that trace metals, such as copper, are present in fossils as organometallic compounds most likely derived from original eumelanin. The distribution of these compounds provides a long-lived biomarker of melanin presence and density within a range of fossilized organisms. Metal zoning patterns may be preserved long after melanosome structures have been destroyed.     

A molecular phylogeny for bats illuminates biogeography and the fossil record

Bats make up more than 20% of extant mammals, yet their evolutionary history is largely unknown because of a limited fossil record and conflicting or incomplete phylogenies. Here, we present a highly resolved molecular phylogeny for all extant bat families. Our results support the hypothesis that megabats are nested among four major microbat lineages, which originated in the early Eocene [52 to 50 million years ago (Mya)], coincident with a significant global rise in temperature, increase in plant diversity and abundance, and the zenith of Tertiary insect diversity. Our data suggest that bats originated in Laurasia, possibly in North America, and that three of the major microbat lineages are Laurasian in origin, whereas the fourth is Gondwanan. Combining principles of ghost lineage analysis with molecular divergence dates, we estimate that the bat fossil record underestimates (unrepresented basal branch length, UBBL) first occurrences by, on average, 73% and that the sum of missing fossil history is 61%.     

Impact theory of mass extinctions and the invertebrate fossil record

There is much evidence that the Cretaceous-Tertiary boundary was marked by a massive meteorite impact. Theoretical consideration of the consquences of such an impact predicts sharp extinctions in many groups of animals precisely at the boundary. Paleontological data clearly show gradual declines in diversity over the last 1 to 10 million years in various invertebrate groups.Reexamination of data from careful studies of the best sections shows that, in addition to undergoing the decline, four groups (ammonites, cheilostomate beyozoans, brachiopods, and bivalves) were affected by sudden truncations precisely at the iridium anomaly that marks the boundary. The paleontological record thus bears witness to terminal-Cretaceous extinctions on two time scales: a slow decline unrelated to the impact and a sharp truncation synchronous with and probably caused by the impact.     

Macroevolutionary interpretations of symmetry and synchroneity in the fossil record

Quantitative analyses of global diversity in the marine fossil record over Phanerozoic time reveal an historically ordered pattern of sequential dominance and increasing diversity. Explanatory models applied to this empirical pattern lead to irreconcilable differences of interpretation. The issue may be resolved by determining the expected distributions and limits of temporal covariation among clades generated by a random branching process. Results also challenge the claim that asymmetries in intra-clade diversity variation provide a directional arrow for the history of life.     

Deep-sea foraging behavior: its bathymetric potential in the fossil record

Spiral and meander foraging traces in the deep sea are not distributed in proportion to assumed food availability. Data collected by means of deep-sea photography failed to reveal a bathymetric gradient in behavioral complexity or sensitivity. The foraging paradigm developed by numerous trace fossil studies does not adequately predict the modern environment.     

First fossil lamprey: a record from the Pennsylvanian of Illinois

A fossil record of lampreys has previously been unknown. A new genus demonstrates the presence of this group in the Pennsylvanian. The body outline, parts of the head skeleton, rasping tongue mechanism, gill basket, and other internal organs are preserved. The fossils are very similar in structure to modern forms. The absence of hagfish characters in the fossil supports the view that the common ancestor of lampreys and hagfishes lived prior to the Pennsylvanian.     

Environmental patterns in the origins of higher taxa: the post-paleozoic fossil record

Of the 26 well-preserved orders of benthic marine invertebrates that have originated since the beginning of the Mesozoic, 20 first appear in onshore environments. This distribution differs significantly from that shown by well-preserved genera and families, and by the 16 poorly preserved orders. These discordances suggest that the pattern of preferential onshore origination is not an artifact of preservation or collection and that the origin of higher taxa cannot be regarded as a simple extrapolation of rates and patterns at lower levels. The onshore environment fosters production or enhances survivorship of species that initiate lineages tending to accumulate suites of derived characters and that thus are ultimately afforded high taxonomic rank.     

The fossil record and evolution: comparing cladistic and paleontologic evidence for vertebrate history

The fossil record offers the only direct evidence of extinct life and thus has figured prominently in considerations of evolutionary patterns. But the incomplete nature of the fossil record has also been emphasized in arguments that fossils play only a secondary role in the recovery of phylogenetic histories based on extant taxa. Although these criticisms recently have been countered, there is no general understanding of the correspondence between the fossil record and phylogeny. An empirical survey of recently published studies suggests no basis for assuming that the stratigraphic occurrence of fossils always provides a precise reflection of phylogeny. Nevertheless, our survey of a sample of taxa shows a tendency for positive correlation between age and clade rank and, hence, a degree of correspondence between phylogenetic pattern and the paleontologic record.