13 - The interplay of physical and biotic factors in macroevolution

Abstract

This chapter reviews some of the paleontological evidence for the effects of both intrinsic and extrinsic biotic factors and discusses how the interplay and feedbacks among these biotic and physical factors shape large-scale evolutionary patterns. Intrinsic biotic factors such as dispersal ability and environmental tolerance, or at the species or lineage levels geographic range or species richness, clearly influence the origination and extinction rates that underlie the dynamics of evolution above the species level. Such biotic factors determine the differential response of taxa to a physical perturbation but can be overwhelmed if the perturbation is sufficiently severe or extensive. This chapter necessarily addresses both origination and extinction: these are the fundamental terms of the macroevolutionary equation. Some major evolutionary events are discussed in the chapter, where the relative roles of the different factors are controversial, with at least some evidence for physical drivers as well as for either intrinsic or extrinsic biotic factors.