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Trends in the description of extinct genera among mammalian orders

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  19 May 2016

Jan Peczkis
Jan Peczkis*
Affiliation:
Department of Earth Science, Northeastern Illinois University, Chicago 60625
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Extract

Probably 90 percent of extant mammals are already known (Goto, 1982), while extinct ones are continually being discovered. Seldom, if ever, has there been an analysis of the approximate rates of discovery of extinct genera per order. Specialists work within their groups and seldom see how their orders compare with those outside their specialty. Questions about intensity of research (on a given order), splitting versus lumping, and general collective interest in an order can partly be answered through a comparative analysis with other orders.

Type
Paleontological Notes
Information
Journal of Paleontology , Volume 63 , Issue 6 , November 1989 , pp. 947 - 950
Copyright
Copyright © The Paleontological Society 

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