Geology Faculty Publications

A Re-Examination of the Contributions of Biofacies and Geographic Range to Extinction Risk in Ordovician Graptolites

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

2014

Publication Source

GFF: The Journal of the Geological Society of Sweden

Abstract

A set of 137 Ordovician graptolite species were used to examine the associations among geographic range, sampling, biofacies and species longevity. Model-choice using general linear models combined with partial least-squares regression analysis found seven distinct predictive variables.

The dominant factors were overall commonness, biofacies, geographic range and sampling in decreasing order of variance explained. However, the data-set is biased toward particularly well-sampled and widespread taxa.

Region (represented as a set of discrete geographic areas) was a strong factor in extinction risk, whereas latitudinal range and endemicity were poor predictors. Results suggest that other factors besides just geographic range and biofacies need to be considered when understanding extinction dynamics.

Inclusive pages

38-41

ISBN/ISSN

1103-5897

Comments

Permission documentation is on file.

Publisher

Taylor and Francis

Volume

136

Issue

1

Peer Reviewed

yes


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