Abstract
Macroevolution is the study of patterns and processes associated with evolutionary change at and above the species level, and includes investigations of both evolutionary tempo and mode. Tempo refers to the rate or pace of change, whereas mode refers to how that change occurs. Both the tempo and mode of macroevolution are difficult to predict based solely on the study of populations, organisms, and genes – the realm of microevolution. Important macroevolutionary discoveries include the observation that species rarely accrue net morphological change over their lifespans of millions of years, that episodes of mass extinction substantially modify the evolutionary trajectory of life on Earth, and that variation in rates of speciation, extinction, and morphological change occurs over time, in different habitats, and across groups. The potential disconnect between microevolution and macroevolution suggests different processes may operate at different levels of biological organization, and at different spatial and temporal scales. Thus, macroevolution should be considered in concert with microevolution when determining the processes that have shaped the coevolution of Earth and life.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Alroy J (2008) Dynamics of origination and extinction in the marine fossil record. Proc Natl Acad Sci 105:11536–11542
Alroy J (2015) A more precise speciation and extinction rate estimator. Paleobiology 41:633–639
Balseiro D, Powell MG (2020) Carbonate collapse and the late Paleozoic ice age marine biodiversity crisis. Geology 20:118–122
Bambach RK (2006) Phanerozoic biodiversity mass extinctions. Annu Rev Earth Planet Sci 34:127–155
Barnosky AD (2001) Distinguishing the effects of the Red Queen and Court Jester on Miocene mammal evolution in the northern Rocky Mountains. J Vertebr Paleontol 21:172–185
Benton MJ (1996) Testing the roles of competition and expansion in tetrapod evolution. Proc R Soc B 263:641–646
Bond D, Grasby SE (2017) On the causes of mass extinctions. Palaeogeogr Palaeoclimatol Palaeoecol 478:3–29
Brett CE, Ivany LC, Schopf KM (1996) Coordinated stasis: an overview. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 127:1–20
Condamine FL, Rolland J, Morlon H (2019) Assessing the causes of diversification slowdowns: temperature‐dependent and diversity-dependent models receive equivalent support. Ecology Letters 22:1900–1912
Daane JM, Dornburg A, Smits P, MacGuigan DJ, Hawkins MB, Near TJ, Detrich HW III, Harris MP (2019) Historical contingency shapes adaptive radiation in Antarctic fishes. Nat Ecol Evol 3:1102–1109
Eldredge N, Gould SJ (1972) Punctuated equilibria: an alternative to phyletic gradualism. In: Schopf TJM (ed) Models in paleobiology. Freeman Cooper, San Francisco, pp 82–115
Eldredge N, Thompson JN, Brakefield PM, Gavrilets S, Jablonski D, Jackson JBC, Lenski RE, Lieberman BS, McPeek MA, Miller W III (2005) The dynamics of evolutionary stasis. Paleobiology 31:133–145
Erwin DH (2001) Lessons from the past: biotic recoveries from mass extinctions. Proc Natl Acad Sci 98:5399–5403
Erwin DH, Laflamme M, Tweedt SM, Sperling EA, Pisani D, Peterson KJ (2011) The Cambrian conundrum: early divergence and later ecological success in the early history of animals. Science 334:1091–1097
Fan JX, Shen SZ, Erwin DH, Sadler PM, MacLeod N, Cheng QM, Zhang H (2020) A high-resolution summary of Cambrian to Early Triassic marine invertebrate biodiversity. Science 367(6475):272–277
Futuyma DJ (2015) Can modern evolutionary theory explain macroevolution? In: Serelli E, Gontier N (eds) Macroevolution. Springer, Cham, pp 29–85
Gould SJ (2002) The structure of evolutionary theory. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA
Grant PR, Grant BR (2011) How and why species multiply: the radiation of Darwin’s finches. Princeton University Press, Princeston
Harnik PG, Lotze HK, Anderson SC, Finkel ZV, Finnegan S, Lindberg DR, Liow LH, Lockwood R, McClain CR, McGuire JL (2012) Extinctions in ancient and modern seas. Trends Ecol Evol 27(11):608–617
Hunt G (2012) Measuring rates of phenotypic evolution and the inseparability of tempo and mode. Paleobiology 38:351–373
Jablonski D (2008a) Extinction and the spatial dynamics of biodiversity. Proc Natl Acad Sci 105:11528–11535
Jablonski D (2008b) Species selection: theory and data. Annu Rev Ecol Evol Syst 39:501–524
Jablonski D (2017) Approaches to macroevolution: 1. General concepts and origin of variation. Evol Biol 14:427–450
Kaiser SI, Aretz M, Becker RT (2016) The global Hangenberg Crisis (Devonian–Carboniferous transition): review of a first-order mass extinction. Geol Soc Lond Spec Publ 423:387–437
Kiessling W, Aberhan M, Brenneis B, Wagner PJ (2007) Extinction trajectories of benthic organisms across the Triassic–Jurassic boundary. Palaeogeogr Palaeoclimatol Palaeoecol 244:201–222
Kuussaari M, Bommarco R, Heikkinen RK, Helm A, Krauss J, Lindborg R, Öckinger E, Pärtel M, Pino J, Rodà F, Stefanescu C, Teder T, Zobel M, Steffan-Dewenter I (2009) Extinction debt: a challenge for biodiversity conservation. Trends Ecol Evol 24:564–571
Lieberman BS (2012) Adaptive radiations in the context of macroevolutionary theory: a paleontological perspective. Evol Biol 39:181–191
McGhee GR Jr, Clapham ME, Sheehan PM, Bottjer DJ, Droser ML (2013) A new ecological-severity ranking of major Phanerozoic biodiversity crises. Palaeogeogr Palaeoclimatol Palaeoecol 370:260–270
Myers CE, Saupe EE (2013) A macroevolutionary expansion of the modern synthesis and the importance of extrinsic abiotic factors. Palaeontology 56:1179–1198
Pagel M (2020) Can’t see the wood for the trees. Nature 580:461–462
Rabosky DL (2013) Diversity-dependence, ecological speciation, and the role of competition in macroevolution. Annu Rev Ecol Evol Syst 44:481–502
Raup DM, Sepkoski JJ (1982) Mass extinctions in the marine fossil record. Science 215:1501–1503
Saupe EE, Myers CE, Peterson AT, Soberón J, Singarayer J, Valdes P, Qiao H (2019) Spatio-temporal climate change contributes to latitudinal diversity gradients. Nat Ecol Evol 3:1419–1429
Sepkoski JJ (1986) Phanerozoic overview of mass extinction. In: Raup DM, Jablonski D (eds) Patterns and processes in the history of life. Springer, Berlin/Heidelberg, pp 277–295
Sepkoski JJ Jr (1996) Competition in macroevolution: the double wedge revisited. In: Jablonski D, Erwin DH, Lipps JH (eds) Evolutionary paleobiology. University of Chicago Press, Chicago, pp 211–255
Silvestro D, Warnock RC, Gavryushkina A, Stadler T (2018) Closing the gap between palaeontological and neontological speciation and extinction rate estimates. Nat Commun 9:1–14
Stanley SM (1979) Macroevolution: pattern and process. W. H. Freeman, San Francisco
Van Valen L (1973) A new evolutionary law. Evol Theory 1:1–33
Vermeij GJ (1977) The Mesozoic marine revolution: evidence from snails, predators and grazers. Paleobiology 3:245–258
Vrba ES (1980) Evolution, species and fossils: how does life evolve? S Afr J Sci 76:61–84
Vrba ES (1993) Turnover-pulses, the Red Queen, and related topics. Am J Sci 293:418–452
Wiley EO, Lieberman BS (2011) The theory and practice of phylogenetic systematics, 2nd edn. Wiley-Blackwell, Hoboken
Acknowledgments
We were limited in the references we could cite and encourage the interested reader to follow citation trails in the contributions listed.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Section Editor information
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2021 Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this entry
Cite this entry
Saupe, E.E., Myers, C.E. (2021). Macroevolution. In: Nuño de la Rosa, L., Müller, G.B. (eds) Evolutionary Developmental Biology. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-32979-6_126
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-32979-6_126
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-32977-2
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-32979-6
eBook Packages: Biomedical and Life SciencesReference Module Biomedical and Life Sciences