Patterns of Phanerozoic Extinction: a Perspective from Global Data Bases

Abstract

Time series of global diversity and extinction intensity measured from data on stratigraphic ranges of marine animal genera show the impact of bio-events on the fauna of the world ocean. Measured extinction intensities vary greatly, from major mass extinctions that eradicated 39 to 82% of generic diversity to smaller events that had substantially less impact on the global fauna, Many of the smaller extinction events are clearly visible only after a series of filters are applied to the data. Still, most of these extinction events are also visible in a smaller set of data on marine families. Although many of the episodes of extinction seen in the global data are well known from detailed biostratigraphic investigations, some are unstudied and require focused attention for confirmation or refutation.