A Cretaceous peak in family-level insect diversity estimated with mark-recapture methodology.

ABSTRACT: The history of insects' taxonomic diversity is poorly understood. The two most common methods for estimating taxonomic diversity in deep time yield conflicting results: the 'range through' method suggests a steady, nearly monotonic increase in family-level diversity, whereas 'shareholder quorum subsampling' suggests a highly volatile taxonomic history with family-level mass extinctions occurring repeatedly, even at the midpoints of geological periods. The only feature shared by these two diversity curves is a steep increase in standing diversity during the Early Cretaceous. This apparent diversification event occurs primarily during the Aptian, the pre-Cenozoic interval with the most described insect occurrences, raising the possibility that this feature of the diversity curves reflects pr

SUBMITTER: Schachat SR 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6939917 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature