A critique of Thompson and Ramírez-Barahona (2023) or: how I learned to stop worrying and love the fossil record.

Biol Lett

Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M5S 3B2.

Published: August 2024

A recent study published in by Thompson and Ramírez-Barahona (2023) argued that, according to analyses of diversification on two massive molecular phylogenies comprising thousands of species, there is no evidence that angiosperms (i.e. flowering plants) were affected by the Cretaceous-Paleogene mass extinction. Here, I critique these conclusions from both methodological and philosophical perspectives. I demonstrate that the methods used in their study possess statistical limitations that strongly reduce the power to detect a true mass extinction event using data similar to those analysed by Thompson and Ramírez-Barahona (2023). Additionally, I use their study as a springboard to examine the relationship between phylogenetic and fossil evidence in diversification studies.

Download full-text PDF

Source
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11681124PMC
http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2024.0039DOI Listing

Publication Analysis

Top Keywords

thompson ramírez-barahona
12
ramírez-barahona 2023
12
mass extinction
8
critique thompson
4
2023 learned
4
learned worrying
4
worrying love
4
love fossil
4
fossil record
4
record study
4

Similar Publications

Want AI Summaries of new PubMed Abstracts delivered to your In-box?

Enter search terms and have AI summaries delivered each week - change queries or unsubscribe any time!