Repeatability of taxon longevity in successive foraminifera radiations and a theory of random appearance and extinction

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Abstract
An analysis of taxonomic longevity for species of the 2 Cenozoic radiations of Caribbean planktonic foraminifera shows strong similarity in longevity for extinct taxa, though extant species of the latter radiation are biased towards longer-lived forms. In this case, the present is not the key to the past. A simple 1-parametric stochastic model predicts generally the shape of the distributions, though there is an excess of species with model longevity and a deficiency of longer-lived forms, relative to the prediction of the model. Although the 1 parameter may relate to the biology of the group under consideration, the distribution about the mode may reflect random appearance-extinction processes.

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