A new model of mass extinctions

Distribution of extinction sizes constructed from original fossil records exhibits not a single, but a double power-law, with tail exponents being roughly the same in different scales, i.e., for species, families and orders. Moreover, time correlations of extinction sizes decrease with a power-law s...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Physica A 2001-04, Vol.293 (3), p.559-565
Main Authors: Sznajd-Weron, K., Weron, Rafał
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
CED model
Complex system
Mass extinction
Power-law
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Summary:Distribution of extinction sizes constructed from original fossil records exhibits not a single, but a double power-law, with tail exponents being roughly the same in different scales, i.e., for species, families and orders. Moreover, time correlations of extinction sizes decrease with a power-law suggesting long range dependence and/or criticality in extinction events. A thorough analysis of paleobiological data is followed by an introduction of a model, which describes the behavior of complex systems with random interactions and uniquely leads to a double power-law observed in extinctions data.
ISSN:0378-4371
1873-2119
DOI:10.1016/S0378-4371(01)00019-X