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Updated: Jun 26, 2026

The Replica Set Method: A High-throughput Approach to Quantitatively Measure Caenorhabditis elegans Lifespan
Published on: June 29, 2018
Longevity of orders is related to the longevity of their constituent genera rather than genus richness
Stefan Bornholdt1, Kim Sneppen, Hildegard Westphal
1Institut für Theoretische Physik, Universität Bremen, Bremen, Germany. bornholdt@itp.uni-bremen.de
Abstract:
Longevity of a taxonomic group is an important issue in understanding the dynamics of evolution. In this respect a key observation is that genera, families or orders can each be assigned a characteristic average lifetime (Van Valen in Evol Theory 1:1-30, 1973). Using the fossil marine animal genera database (Sepkoski in Bull Am Paleontol 363, pp 563, 2002) we here examine the relationship between longevity of a higher taxonomic group (orders) and the longevity of its lower taxonomic groups (genera). We find insignificant correlation between the size of an order and its longevity, whereas we observe large correlation between the lifetime of an order and the lifetime of its constituent genera. These observations suggest that longevity of taxonomic groups is heritable intrinsically or on the grounds of environmental preferences.
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