Expected Anomalies in the Fossil Record
The problem of intermediates in the fossil record has been frequently discussed ever since Darwin. The extent of ‘gaps’ (missing transitional stages) has been used to argue against gradual evolution from a common ancestor. Traditionally, gaps have often been explained by the improbability of fossili...
| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
SAGE Publishing
2008-01-01
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| Series: | Evolutionary Bioinformatics |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://la-press.com/article.php?article_id=627 |
| _version_ | 1818056779121033216 |
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| author | Mareike Fischer Mike Steel |
| author_facet | Mareike Fischer Mike Steel |
| author_sort | Mareike Fischer |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The problem of intermediates in the fossil record has been frequently discussed ever since Darwin. The extent of ‘gaps’ (missing transitional stages) has been used to argue against gradual evolution from a common ancestor. Traditionally, gaps have often been explained by the improbability of fossilization and the discontinuous selection of found fossils. Here we take an analytical approach and demonstrate why, under certain sampling conditions, we may not expect intermediates to be found. Using a simple null model, we show mathematically that the question of whether a taxon sampled from some time in the past is likely to be morphologically intermediate to other samples (dated earlier and later) depends on the shape and dimensions of the underlying phylogenetic tree that connects the taxa, and the times from which the fossils are sampled. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-10T12:34:15Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-8caf79845b384828b3b51655e100ae6b |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1176-9343 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-10T12:34:15Z |
| publishDate | 2008-01-01 |
| publisher | SAGE Publishing |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Evolutionary Bioinformatics |
| spelling | doaj.art-8caf79845b384828b3b51655e100ae6b2022-12-22T01:48:43ZengSAGE PublishingEvolutionary Bioinformatics1176-93432008-01-0146167Expected Anomalies in the Fossil RecordMareike FischerMike SteelThe problem of intermediates in the fossil record has been frequently discussed ever since Darwin. The extent of ‘gaps’ (missing transitional stages) has been used to argue against gradual evolution from a common ancestor. Traditionally, gaps have often been explained by the improbability of fossilization and the discontinuous selection of found fossils. Here we take an analytical approach and demonstrate why, under certain sampling conditions, we may not expect intermediates to be found. Using a simple null model, we show mathematically that the question of whether a taxon sampled from some time in the past is likely to be morphologically intermediate to other samples (dated earlier and later) depends on the shape and dimensions of the underlying phylogenetic tree that connects the taxa, and the times from which the fossils are sampled.http://la-press.com/article.php?article_id=627fossil recordnull modelsphylogenetic trees |
| spellingShingle | Mareike Fischer Mike Steel Expected Anomalies in the Fossil Record Evolutionary Bioinformatics fossil record null models phylogenetic trees |
| title | Expected Anomalies in the Fossil Record |
| title_full | Expected Anomalies in the Fossil Record |
| title_fullStr | Expected Anomalies in the Fossil Record |
| title_full_unstemmed | Expected Anomalies in the Fossil Record |
| title_short | Expected Anomalies in the Fossil Record |
| title_sort | expected anomalies in the fossil record |
| topic | fossil record null models phylogenetic trees |
| url | http://la-press.com/article.php?article_id=627 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT mareikefischer expectedanomaliesinthefossilrecord AT mikesteel expectedanomaliesinthefossilrecord |