New Insight into Diversity Dynamics from Specimen-Based Studies: Analyzing the Late Devonian Speciation Crisis

As we enter the Centennial of the Paleontological Society, it is important to embrace the basic data of our field, fossil specimens. The roots of paleontology are grounded in the discovery of new fossil material and the analysis of unique character combinations of extinct taxa to ascertain patterns in the history of life. During the past century, paleontological research has transitioned from early basic fossil descriptions and “stamp collecting” to a vibrant area of evolutionary and ecological analysis. Throughout this transition, specimen-based research has continued to provide the framework for theoretical advances in paleontology.

Modern systematic paleontology employs numerous tools and techniques that provide methods to analyze specimens in sophisticated and novel ways. New analytical equipment, such as SEM or microCT analysis, and theoretical frameworks for data analysis, such as parsimony analysis, provide improved tools for specimen analysis. These integrative techniques provide new ways to address fundamental theoretical issues in paleontology including phylogenetics and reconstructing the tree of life, paleobiogeography, paleoecology, and diversity studies.

In this presentation, I emphasize modern uses of well-constrained species-level phylogenetic hypotheses for analyzing evolutionary and biogeographic patterns in the history of life. In particular, a case study examining phylogenetically-constrained analyses of speciation and extinction rates during the Late Devonian Biodiversity Crisis within a biogeographic framework will be presented. Biodiversity dynamics inferred from specimen-based phylogenetic hypotheses will be compared with the pattern recovered from database compilations.