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Duran-Nebreda S, Bentley RA, Vidiella B, Spiridonov A, Eldredge N, O'Brien MJ, Valverde S. On the multiscale dynamics of punctuated evolution. Trends Ecol Evol 2024; 39:734-744. [PMID: 38821781 DOI: 10.1016/j.tree.2024.05.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/04/2023] [Revised: 05/07/2024] [Accepted: 05/07/2024] [Indexed: 06/02/2024]
Abstract
For five decades, paleontologists, paleobiologists, and ecologists have investigated patterns of punctuated equilibria in biology. Here, we step outside those fields and summarize recent advances in the theory of and evidence for punctuated equilibria, gathered from contemporary observations in geology, molecular biology, genetics, anthropology, and sociotechnology. Taken in the aggregate, these observations lead to a more general theory that we refer to as punctuated evolution. The quality of recent datasets is beginning to illustrate the mechanics of punctuated evolution in a way that can be modeled across a vast range of phenomena, from mass extinctions hundreds of millions of years ago to the possible future ahead in the Anthropocene. We expect the study of punctuated evolution to be applicable beyond biological scenarios.
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Affiliation(s)
- Salva Duran-Nebreda
- Evolution of Networks Lab, Institut de Biologia Evolutiva, Passeig Marítim de la Barceloneta 37 49, Barcelona 08003, Spain
| | - R Alexander Bentley
- Department of Anthropology, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN 37996, USA
| | - Blai Vidiella
- Evolution of Networks Lab, Institut de Biologia Evolutiva, Passeig Marítim de la Barceloneta 37 49, Barcelona 08003, Spain
| | - Andrej Spiridonov
- Department of Geology and Mineralogy, Vilnius University, Vilnius, Lithuania
| | - Niles Eldredge
- The American Museum of Natural History, New York, NY 10024, USA
| | - Michael J O'Brien
- Department of History, Philosophy, and Geography and Department of Life Sciences, Texas A&M University-San Antonio, San Antonio, TX 78224, USA; Department of Anthropology, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO 65205, USA.
| | - Sergi Valverde
- Evolution of Networks Lab, Institut de Biologia Evolutiva, Passeig Marítim de la Barceloneta 37 49, Barcelona 08003, Spain; European Centre for Living Technology, Ca' Bottacin, Dorsoduro 3911, 30123 Venice, Italy.
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Shen J, Chen J, Yu J, Algeo TJ, Smith RMH, Botha J, Frank TD, Fielding CR, Ward PD, Mather TA. Mercury evidence from southern Pangea terrestrial sections for end-Permian global volcanic effects. Nat Commun 2023; 14:6. [PMID: 36596767 PMCID: PMC9810726 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-022-35272-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/21/2022] [Accepted: 11/25/2022] [Indexed: 01/04/2023] Open
Abstract
The latest Permian mass extinction (LPME) was triggered by magmatism of the Siberian Traps Large Igneous Province (STLIP), which left an extensive record of sedimentary Hg anomalies at Northern Hemisphere and tropical sites. Here, we present Hg records from terrestrial sites in southern Pangea, nearly antipodal to contemporaneous STLIP activity, providing insights into the global distribution of volcanogenic Hg during this event and its environmental processing. These profiles (two from Karoo Basin, South Africa; two from Sydney Basin, Australia) exhibit significant Hg enrichments within the uppermost Permian extinction interval as well as positive Δ199Hg excursions (to ~0.3‰), providing evidence of long-distance atmospheric transfer of volcanogenic Hg. These results demonstrate the far-reaching effects of the Siberian Traps as well as refine stratigraphic placement of the LPME interval in the Karoo Basin at a temporal resolution of ~105 years based on global isochronism of volcanogenic Hg anomalies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jun Shen
- State Key Laboratory of Geological Processes and Mineral Resources, China University of Geosciences, Wuhan, Hubei, 430074, People's Republic of China.
| | - Jiubin Chen
- Institute of Surface-Earth System Science, Tianjin University, Tianjin, 300072, People's Republic of China
| | - Jianxin Yu
- State Key Laboratory of Biogeology and Environmental Geology, China University of Geosciences, Wuhan, Hubei, 430074, People's Republic of China
| | - Thomas J Algeo
- State Key Laboratory of Geological Processes and Mineral Resources, China University of Geosciences, Wuhan, Hubei, 430074, People's Republic of China.,State Key Laboratory of Biogeology and Environmental Geology, China University of Geosciences, Wuhan, Hubei, 430074, People's Republic of China.,Department of Geosciences, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH, 45221-0013, USA
| | - Roger M H Smith
- Evolutionary Studies Institute, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2050, South Africa.,Iziko South African Museum, PO Box 61, Cape Town, 8000, South Africa
| | - Jennifer Botha
- Evolutionary Studies Institute, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2050, South Africa.,National Museum, PO Box 266, Bloemfontein, 9300, South Africa
| | - Tracy D Frank
- Department of Earth Sciences, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT, 06269, USA
| | | | - Peter D Ward
- Department of Biology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, 98195-1800, USA
| | - Tamsin A Mather
- Department of Earth Sciences, University of Oxford, South Parks Road, Oxford, OX1 3AN, UK
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