Documenting a significant relationship between macroevolutionary origination rates and Phanerozoic pCO2 levels

Area of Science:

• Paleontology
• Climate Science
• Evolutionary Biology

Background:

• Marine fauna diversification and atmospheric composition are key indicators of Earth's history.
• Previous studies have explored correlations between biological diversity and environmental factors.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the relationship between marine fauna diversification rates and atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) levels over the past 545 million years.
• To compare these findings with existing models of biological diversity and environmental variables.

Main Methods:

• Analysis of fundamental databases for Earth's biota and atmospheric composition.
• Statistical analysis to determine the significance of correlations.
• Comparison with established datasets and models, including Rothman's and Berner & Kothavala's projections.

Main Results:

• A highly statistically significant correlation (P < 0.001) was found between marine fauna diversification rates and atmospheric CO2 levels.
• Diversification rates, not total diversity, correlate with environmental variables.
• The observed diversification rates more closely match the CO2 record projected by Berner & Kothavala than Rothman's predictions.

Conclusions:

• Environmental variables controlling CO2 levels have profoundly impacted metazoan evolution throughout Earth's history.
• The rate of marine fauna diversification is a key metric for understanding evolutionary responses to climate change.
• Atmospheric CO2 is a critical factor influencing the pace of evolutionary diversification.