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Body Size Evolution Across the Geozoic

Publication ,  Journal Article
Smith, FA; Payne, JL; Heim, NA; Balk, MA; Finnegan, S; Kowalewski, M; Lyons, SK; McClain, CR; McShea, DW; Novack-Gottshall, PM; Anich, PS; Wang, SC
Published in: Annual Review of Earth and Planetary Sciences
June 29, 2016

The Geozoic encompasses the 3.6 Ga interval in Earth history when life has existed. Over this time, life has diversified from exclusively tiny, single-celled organisms to include large, complex multicellular forms. Just how and why this diversification occurred has been a major area of interest for paleontologists and evolutionary biologists for centuries. Here, we compile data on organism size throughout the Geozoic fossil record for the three domains of life. We describe canonical trends in the evolution of body size, synthesize current understanding of the patterns and causal mechanisms at various hierarchical scales, and discuss the biological and geological consequences of variation in organismal size.

Duke Scholars

Published In

Annual Review of Earth and Planetary Sciences

DOI

ISSN

0084-6597

Publication Date

June 29, 2016

Volume

44

Start / End Page

523 / 553

Related Subject Headings

  • Geochemistry & Geophysics
  • 51 Physical sciences
  • 37 Earth sciences
  • 04 Earth Sciences
  • 02 Physical Sciences
 

Citation

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Smith, F. A., Payne, J. L., Heim, N. A., Balk, M. A., Finnegan, S., Kowalewski, M., … Wang, S. C. (2016). Body Size Evolution Across the Geozoic. Annual Review of Earth and Planetary Sciences, 44, 523–553. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-earth-060115-012147
Smith, F. A., J. L. Payne, N. A. Heim, M. A. Balk, S. Finnegan, M. Kowalewski, S. K. Lyons, et al. “Body Size Evolution Across the Geozoic.” Annual Review of Earth and Planetary Sciences 44 (June 29, 2016): 523–53. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-earth-060115-012147.
Smith FA, Payne JL, Heim NA, Balk MA, Finnegan S, Kowalewski M, et al. Body Size Evolution Across the Geozoic. Annual Review of Earth and Planetary Sciences. 2016 Jun 29;44:523–53.
Smith, F. A., et al. “Body Size Evolution Across the Geozoic.” Annual Review of Earth and Planetary Sciences, vol. 44, June 2016, pp. 523–53. Scopus, doi:10.1146/annurev-earth-060115-012147.
Smith FA, Payne JL, Heim NA, Balk MA, Finnegan S, Kowalewski M, Lyons SK, McClain CR, McShea DW, Novack-Gottshall PM, Anich PS, Wang SC. Body Size Evolution Across the Geozoic. Annual Review of Earth and Planetary Sciences. 2016 Jun 29;44:523–553.

Published In

Annual Review of Earth and Planetary Sciences

DOI

ISSN

0084-6597

Publication Date

June 29, 2016

Volume

44

Start / End Page

523 / 553

Related Subject Headings

  • Geochemistry & Geophysics
  • 51 Physical sciences
  • 37 Earth sciences
  • 04 Earth Sciences
  • 02 Physical Sciences