<<http://www.lbl.gov/Science-Articles/Archive/Phys-fossil-biodiversity.h tml>>
A detailed and extensive new analysis of the fossil records of marine animals over the past 542 million years has yielded a stunning surprise. Biodiversity appears to rise and fall in mysterious cycles of 62 million years for which science has no satisfactory explanation. In examining their results, Muller and Rohde found that the fossil diversity cycle is most evident when only short-lived genera (those that survived less than 45 million years) are considered. They also found that some organisms seem to be immune to the cycle, while others are exceptionally sensitive. For example, corals, sponges, arthropods and trilobites follow the cycle, but fish, squid and snails do not. Muller and Rohde also found a second, less pronounced diversity cycle of 140 million years. ------ ...34/-21/13/-8/5/-3/2/-1/1/0/1/1/2/3/5/8/13/21/34... _______________________________________________ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
