Population Biology Models in Macroevolution

Many aspects of a clade's history are reflected in its pattern of diversity through time. Evolutionary radiation is reflected in increasing diversity; cessation of radiation is reflected in stabilization of diversity; response to perturbation is reflected in rapid loss and then often recovery of diversity; and disappearance is sometimes reflected in attenuated decay of diversity. Often, it is of interest not only to describe the history of a clade's diversity, but also to investigate its dynamics: how various aspects of the history relate to its rates of origination and extinction and the response of these rates to evolutionary innovation, environmental fluctuation, and cladal interaction.