The Global Fossil Record

http://d2fn.com/2014/08/13/global-fossil-record.html

by d2fn • 12 years ago

62 7 12 years ago

That is a very cool visualization, one of the best I have seen.

Squarel• 12 years ago

Very nice visualization, but the conditions necessary for fossilization should also be considered when weighting the types of species and drawing conclusions.

The conditions for fossilization occur with lower frequency in terrestrial ecosystems compared to aquatic systems for example, so even though complex life originated in marine ecosystems, if there had been more terrestrial species than aquatic species, we would not necessarily expect to find this in fossilization as far as I know.

Plant evolution is something that is extremely interesting to me, and I liked that part of the graphic. The arms race in ecosystems (With the classic example being rainforests) driving biodiversity, and the evolution of plants from gymnosperms to angiosperms in response to this (among other factors) is fascinating!

d2fn2• 12 years ago

Excellent points! Thank you.

d2fn2• 12 years ago

"Paleontologists are sure that the fossil record is biased."...

"Land animals are probably very poorly represented as well. For example, most animals that are now alive, or ever have lived, are insects, but the fossil record of insects is poor."...

http://www.k5geosource.org/1content/1sc/fossils/pg6.html

sboak• 12 years ago

good jub dietrich

autokad• 12 years ago

the wheel graphic could suggest (though not necessarily) that we evolved from a fresh water creature. Is there any theories on this that you guys know of?

it seems like it was always assumed to be a salt water creature, but it actually makes more sense in my head as a fresh water one, as it would pop into habitats conducive to terrestrial life

tstactplsignore• 12 years ago

You're correct, the immediate ancestors of tetrapods almost certainly lived in freshwater, as known intermediate fossils like titaalik were found in fresh water stream deposits[1]. I believe all of the immediate ancestors of and early tetrapods have been found in fresh water deposits, although I can't confirm.

[1] http://tiktaalik.uchicago.edu/searching4Tik3.html

The Global Fossil Record

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