Testing for a mass extinction without selecting taxa

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Abstract
Statistical inference about mass extinction events is commonly based on the pattern of fossil finds among a group of taxa. An important issue for existing methods is the selection of taxa for inclusion in the analysis. A common approach is to select taxa on the basis of the stratigraphic height of their uppermost finds. This approach creates a bias in favor of detecting a mass extinction event. This paper describes and illustrates an approach that avoids this problem.