Applicability and resolving power of statistical tests for simultaneous extinction events in the fossil record

From: Paleobiology | Date: January 1, 2003| Author: Payne, Jonathan L | Copyright information

Abstract.-The recognition that past catastrophic events may have caused the simultaneous extinction of many taxa has prompted the development of statistical tests to determine the compatibility of the fossil record with such scenarios. Statistical tests necessitate simplifying assumptions, the most significant of which are continuous (as opposed to discrete) data in the sampling of the fossil record and random distribution of fossil occurrences because constant preservation potential and coll...

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