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Disentangling rock record bias and common-cause from redundancy in the British fossil record

Author

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  • Alexander M. Dunhill

    (University of Bath, Claverton Down
    School of Earth Sciences, University of Bristol, Wills Memorial Building
    Present address: School of Earth and Environment, University of Leeds, LS2 9JT, UK)

  • Bjarte Hannisdal

    (Centre for Geobiology, University of Bergen)

  • Michael J. Benton

    (School of Earth Sciences, University of Bristol, Wills Memorial Building)

Abstract

The fossil record documents the history of life, but the reliability of that record has often been questioned. Spatiotemporal variability in sedimentary rock volume, sampling and research effort especially frustrates global-scale diversity reconstructions. Various proposals have been made to rectify palaeodiversity estimates using proxy measures for the availability and sampling of the rock record, but the validity of these approaches remains controversial. Targeting the rich fossil record of Great Britain as a highly detailed regional exemplar, our statistical analysis shows that marine outcrop area contains a signal useful for predicting changes in diversity, collections and formations, whereas terrestrial outcrop area contains a signal useful for predicting formations. In contrast, collection and formation counts are information redundant with fossil richness, characterized by symmetric, bidirectional information flow. If this is true, the widespread use of collection and formation counts as sampling proxies to correct the raw palaeodiversity data may be unwarranted.

Suggested Citation

  • Alexander M. Dunhill & Bjarte Hannisdal & Michael J. Benton, 2014. "Disentangling rock record bias and common-cause from redundancy in the British fossil record," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 5(1), pages 1-9, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:5:y:2014:i:1:d:10.1038_ncomms5818
    DOI: 10.1038/ncomms5818
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    Cited by:

    1. Joseph T. Flannery-Sutherland & Daniele Silvestro & Michael J. Benton, 2022. "Global diversity dynamics in the fossil record are regionally heterogeneous," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-17, December.

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