On the multiscale dynamics of punctuated evolution.

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.

Life rather than climate influences diversity at scales greater than 40 million years.

The diversity of life on Earth is controlled by hierarchical processes that interact over wide ranges of timescales. Here, we consider the megaclimate regime at scales ≥1 million years (Myr). We focus on determining the domains of 'wandering' stochastic Earth system processes ('Court Jester') and stabilizing biotic interactions that induce diversity dependence of fluctuations in macroevolutionary rates ('Red Queen').

Holocene vegetation patterns in southern Lithuania indicate astronomical forcing on the millennial and centennial time scales.

The Earth's biota originated and developed to its current complex state through interacting with multilevel physical forcing of our planet's climate and near and outer space phenomena. In the present study, we focus on the time scale of hundreds to thousands of years in the most recent time interval - the Holocene. Using a pollen paleocommunity dataset from southern Lithuania (Čepkeliai bog) and applying spectral analysis techniques, we tested this record for the presence of statistically significant cyclicities, which can be observed in past solar activity.

The role of temporal abundance structure and habitat preferences in the survival of conodonts during the mid-early Silurian Ireviken mass extinction event.

The Ireviken event was one of the most intense extinction episodes that occurred during the mid-Paleozoic era. It had a strong global effect on a range of clades, with conodonts, graptolites and chitinozoans affected most. Using geophysical proxies and conodont species parameters of their temporal abundance structure we investigate how they affected the selectivity of conodont species survival during this calamity.