ORIGINATIONS AND EXTINCTIONS: ANALYSES OF FOSSIL DATA AND SIMULATIONS

Tane Ray (), Leo Moseley () and Naeem Jan ()
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Tane Ray: Department of Computer Science, Mathematics and Physics, University of the West Indies, Cave Hill, Barbados
Leo Moseley: Department of Computer Science, Mathematics and Physics, University of the West Indies, Cave Hill, Barbados
Naeem Jan: Department of Computer Science, Mathematics and Physics, University of the West Indies, Cave Hill, Barbados;

International Journal of Modern Physics C (IJMPC), 2000, vol. 11, issue 02, 277-285

Abstract: We analyse the fossil data of Benton1with and without interpolation schemes. By Fourier transform analysis, we find a frequency dependence of the amplitude of1/ffor the various interpolation schemes used in the past. We illustrate that shuffling the interpolated data changes the spectra only slightly. On the other hand, an identical analysis performed on the raw (uninterpolated) fossil data gives a flat frequency spectrum. We conclude that the1/fbehavior is an artifact of the interpolation schemes. We next introduce a simulation of extinctions drivenonlyby interactions between two trophic levels. Fourier transform analysis of the simulation data shows a frequency dependence of1/f. When the data are grouped into a form resembling the fossil record the frequency dependence vanishes, giving a flat spectrum. Our simulation produces a frequency spectrum that agrees with the observed fossil record.

Keywords: Trophic Level; Biological Extinction; Lotka–Volterra Systems; Fossil Record; Fourier Transform (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2000
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DOI: 10.1142/S0129183100000250

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