Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

Cycles in fossil diversity

Nature volume 434, pages 208–210 (2005)Cite this article

Abstract

It is well known that the diversity of life appears to fluctuate during the course of the Phanerozoic, the eon during which hard shells and skeletons left abundant fossils (0–542 million years ago). Here we show, using Sepkoski's compendium1 of the first and last stratigraphic appearances of 36,380 marine genera, a strong 62 ± 3-million-year cycle, which is particularly evident in the shorter-lived genera. The five great extinctions enumerated by Raup and Sepkoski2 may be an aspect of this cycle. Because of the high statistical significance we also consider the contributions of environmental factors, and possible causes.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Relevant articles

Open Access articles citing this article.

Access options

Rent or buy this article

Get just this article for as long as you need it

$39.95

Learn more

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Figure 1: Genus diversity.
Figure 2: Diversity of short-lived and long-lived genera.

References

  1. Sepkoski, J. A Compendium of Fossil Marine Animal Genera (eds Jablonski, D. & Foote, M.) Bull. Am. Paleontol. no. 363 (Paleontological Research Institution, Ithaca, 2002).

  2. Raup, D. & Sepkoski, J. Mass extinctions in the marine fossil record. Science 215, 1501–1503 (1982)

    Article  CAS  ADS  Google Scholar 

  3. Sepkoski, J. in Global Events and Event Stratigraphy (ed. Wallister, O.) 35–61 (Springer-Verlag, Berlin, 1996)

    Book  Google Scholar 

  4. Miller, A. Biotic transitions in global marine diversity. Science 281, 1157–1160 (1998)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  5. Gradstein, F., Ogg, J. & Smith, A. A Geologic Time Scale 2004 (Cambridge Univ. Press, Cambridge, 2005)

    Book  Google Scholar 

  6. Alroy, J. et al. Effects of sampling standardization on estimates of Phanerozoic marine diversification. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 98, 6261–6266 (2001)

    Article  CAS  ADS  Google Scholar 

  7. Peters, E. S. & Foote, M. Biodiversity in the Phanerozoic: a reinterpretation. Paleobiology 27, 583–601 (2001)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Jablonski, D., Roy, K., Valentine, J., Price, R. & Anderson, P. The impact of the pull of the recent on the history of marine diversity. Science 300, 1133–1135 (2003)

    Article  CAS  ADS  Google Scholar 

  9. Signor, P. & Lipps, J. in Geologic Implications of Impacts of Large Asteroids and Comets on the Earth (eds Silver, I. & Silver, P.) 291–296 (Geol. Soc. Am. Special Paper 190, Boulder, Colorado, 1982)

    Book  Google Scholar 

  10. Thomson, K. S. Explanation of large scale extinctions of lower vertebrates. Nature 261, 578–580 (1976)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  11. Thomson, K. S. in Patterns of Evolution as Illustrated by the Fossil Record (ed. Hallam, A.) (Developments in Palaeontology and Stratigraphy Vol 5) 377–404 (Elsevier Scientific Publishing Company, Amsterdam, 1977).

  12. Ager, D. V. The nature of the fossil record. Proc. Geol. Assoc. 87, 131–159 (1977)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  13. Veizer, J., Godderis, Y. & Francois, L. Evidence for decoupling of atmospheric CO2 and global climate during the Phanerozoic eon. Nature 408, 698–701 (2000)

    Article  CAS  ADS  Google Scholar 

  14. Shaviv, N. Cosmic ray diffusion from the galactic spiral arms, iron meteorites, and a possible, climatic connection. Phys. Rev. Lett. 89, 51102-1 (2002)

    ADS  Google Scholar 

  15. Fischer, A. G. & Arthur, M. A. in Deepwater Carbonate Environments Spec. Publ. 25 (eds Cook, H. E. & Enos, P.) 19–50 (Society of Economic Paleontologists and Mineralogists, Tulsa, Oklahoma, 1977)

    Book  Google Scholar 

  16. Sepkoski, J. J. in Global Catastrophes in Earth History Spec. Paper 247 (eds Sharpton, V. L. & Ward, P. D.) 33–44 (Geological Society of America, Boulder, Colorado, 1990)

    Google Scholar 

  17. Shaviv, N. & Veizer, J. Celestial driver of Phanerozoic climate. GSA Today 13, 4–10 (2003)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  18. Rahmstorf, S. et al. Cosmic rays, carbon dioxide and climate. Eos 85, 38–41 (2004)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  19. Prokoph, A., Ernst, R. & Buchan, K. Time-series analysis of large igneous provinces: 3500 Ma to present. J. Geol. 112, 1–22 (2004)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  20. Veizer, J. et al. 87Sr/86Sr, δ13C and δ18O evolution of Phanerozoic seawater. Chem. Geol. 161, 59–88 (1999)

    Article  CAS  ADS  Google Scholar 

  21. Haq, B., Hardenbol, J. & Vail, P. Chronology of fluctuating sea levels since the Triassic. Science 235, 1156–1167 (1987)

    Article  CAS  ADS  Google Scholar 

  22. Hallam, A. & Wignall, P. Mass extinctions and sea-level changes. Earth Sci. Rev. 48, 217–250 (1999)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  23. Whitehead, J. http://www.unb.ca/passc/ImpactDatabase (2004).

  24. Matese, J. J., Innanen, K. A. & Valtonen, M. J. in Collisional Processes in the Solar System Astrophys. Space Libr. Vol. 261 (eds Marov, M. & Rickman, H.) 91–102 (Kluwer Academic Publishers, Norwell, Massachusetts, 2001)

    Book  Google Scholar 

  25. Schaeffer, N. & Manga, M. Interaction of rising and sinking mantle plumes. Geophys. Res. Lett. 28, 455–458 (2001)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  26. Bahcall, J. & Bahcall, S. The Sun's motion perpendicular to the galactic plane. Nature 316, 706–708 (1985)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  27. Bahcall, J. N. Neutrino Astrophysics (Cambridge Univ. Press, Cambridge, 1989)

    Google Scholar 

  28. Levison, H. F. & Duncan, M. J. The long-term dynamical behavior of short-period comets. Icarus 108, 18–36 (1994)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  29. Whitmire, D. & Matese, J. Periodic comet showers and Planet X. Nature 313, 36–38 (1985)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

We thank J. Levine, W. Alvarez, D. Shimabukuro, R. Ernst, M. Manga and D. O'Connor for discussions and suggestions. This work was supported by the Ann and Gordon Getty Foundation and the Folger Foundation.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Physics and Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory, University of California, Berkeley, California, 94720, USA

    Robert A. Rohde & Richard A. Muller

Authors
  1. Robert A. Rohde
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Richard A. Muller
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Richard A. Muller.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

The authors declare that they have no competing financial interests.

Supplementary information

Supplementary Methods

This file describes the techniques used in constructing the diversity curve and assessing the statistical significance of the peaks in the Fourier spectrum. It also demonstrates that alternative techniques suggested by other authors do not change the central conclusion of the paper. (PDF 161 kb)

Supplementary Discussion

This file provides information on originations and extinctions and demonstrates that both show a 62 Myr cycle, though neither does so as strongly as diversity itself. (PDF 60 kb)

Supplementary Tables

These tables provide numerical data on the time scale, diversity, extinction, origination, and the statistical analysis. This data can be used for further study or for reconstructing our analysis. (XLS 702 kb)

Rights and permissions

Reprints and Permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Rohde, R., Muller, R. Cycles in fossil diversity. Nature 434, 208–210 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1038/nature03339

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nature03339

This article is cited by

Comments

By submitting a comment you agree to abide by our Terms and Community Guidelines. If you find something abusive or that does not comply with our terms or guidelines please flag it as inappropriate.

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing