Department of Earth Sciences, University of Oxford, South Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3AN, UK.
Curr Biol. 2021 Jul 26;31(14):R907-R909. doi: 10.1016/j.cub.2021.05.044.
The fossil record reveals rampant extinction. However, analyses of time-calibrated molecular phylogenies often find no extinction at all. A new paper shows that estimates of zero extinction are entirely incorrect and are caused by limitations of analysing phylogenies that sample only living species.
化石记录揭示了猖獗的灭绝现象。然而,对时间校准的分子系统发育分析的研究却往往没有发现任何灭绝现象。一篇新的论文表明,零灭绝的估计完全是错误的,这是由于分析仅采样现存物种的系统发育所存在的局限性导致的。