Department of Philosophy & Minnesota Center for Philosophy of Science, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA.
J Hist Biol. 2023 Oct;56(3):419-454. doi: 10.1007/s10739-023-09720-0. Epub 2023 Aug 3.
This paper examines the emergence of a new approach to stratigraphic complexity, first in geology and then, following its creative appropriation, in paleobiology. The approach was associated with a set of models that together transformed stratigraphic geology in the decades following 1970. These included the influential models of depositional sequences developed by Peter Vail and others at Exxon. Transposed into paleobiology, they gave researchers new resources for studying the incompleteness of the fossil record and for removing biases imposed by the processes of sedimentary accumulation. In addition, they helped reconfigure the cultural landscape of paleobiology, consolidating a growing emphasis on fieldwork and eroding the barrier that had been erected in the 1970s between "paleontology" and "paleobiology." This paper traces these developments, paying special attention to the simulation models of stratigraphic paleobiologist Steven Holland. It also considers how the integration of sequence and event stratigraphy and paleobiology has begun to influence long-running discussions of incompleteness and bias in the fossil record.
本文探讨了一种新的地层复杂性研究方法的出现，该方法最初出现在地质学领域，随后在古生物学领域得到了创造性的应用。这种方法与一系列模型相关联，这些模型共同改变了 20 世纪 70 年代以来的地层地质学。其中包括埃克森美孚的彼得·惠尔等人开发的有影响力的沉积序列模型。将这些模型应用于古生物学领域，为研究化石记录的不完整性和消除沉积堆积过程带来的偏差提供了新的资源。此外，它们有助于重新构建古生物学的文化景观，加强了对野外工作的重视，并侵蚀了 20 世纪 70 年代在“古生物学”和“古生物学”之间建立的障碍。本文追溯了这些发展，特别关注地层古生物学家史蒂文·霍兰德的模拟模型。它还考虑了序列和事件地层学与古生物学的整合如何开始影响化石记录不完整性和偏差的长期讨论。
