Gingerich Philip D
Museum of Paleontology and Department of Geological Sciences, The University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1079, USA.
Trends Ecol Evol. 2006 May;21(5):246-53. doi: 10.1016/j.tree.2006.03.006. Epub 2006 Mar 24.
The modern orders of mammals, Artiodactyla, Perissodactyla and Primates (APP taxa), first appear in the fossil record at the Paleocene-Eocene boundary, c. 55 million years ago. Their appearance on all three northern continents has been linked to diversification and dispersal in response to rapid environmental change at the beginning of a worldwide 100 000-200 000-year Paleocene-Eocene thermal maximum (PETM) and carbon isotope excursion. As I discuss here, global environmental events such as the PETM have had profound effects on evolution in the geological past and must be considered when modeling the history of life. The PETM is also relevant when considering the causes and consequences of global greenhouse warming.
现代哺乳动物目，偶蹄目、奇蹄目和灵长目（APP类群），最早在化石记录中出现在古新世-始新世边界，约5500万年前。它们在所有三个北半球大陆上的出现与在全球范围内持续10万-20万年的古新世-始新世极热事件（PETM）开始时，因快速环境变化而产生的多样化和扩散有关，同时也与碳同位素偏移有关。正如我在此所讨论的，诸如PETM这样的全球环境事件在地质历史上对进化产生了深远影响，在对生命历史进行建模时必须予以考虑。在考虑全球温室变暖的原因和后果时，PETM也具有相关性。
