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Is there a characteristic rate of radiation for the insects?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  08 April 2016

Mark V. H. Wilson
Mark V. H. Wilson*
Affiliation:
Department of Zoology, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta T6G 2E9, Canada
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Abstract

The hypothesis that there is a characteristic rate of exponential radiation for the Insecta is tested for forty-nine of the most diverse family-level taxa in the Coleoptera, Diptera, and Hymenoptera. Data used are estimates of Recent species diversity and age of first appearance in the fossil record, as in the original statement of the hypothesis by Stanley (1979). There is no evidence of a characteristic radiation rate for the insects. A more exact method is proposed for identifying clades that are radiating exponentially. When applied to Stanley's data for the mammalian family Bovidae, it indicates that the Bovidae are not radiating exponentially at a characteristic rate. Future research might emphasize the reliable identification of clades that are radiating exponentially, prior to drawing conclusions about rates that might characterize higher taxa.

Type
Articles
Information
Paleobiology , Volume 9 , Issue 1 , Winter 1983 , pp. 79 - 85
Copyright
Copyright © The Paleontological Society 

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