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The concept of the three great evolutionary faunas of marine animals from the Cambrian to the present (that is, the entire Phanerozoic) was introduced by Jack Sepkoski in 1981 using factor analysis of the fossil record.[1] An evolutionary fauna typically displays an increase in biodiversity following a logistic curve followed by extinctions (although the Modern Fauna has not yet exhibited the diminishing part of the curve).
- ^ J. J. Sepkosi (1981). "A factor analysis description of the Phanerozoic marine fossil record". Paleobiology. 7 (1): 36–53. Bibcode:1981Pbio....7...36S. doi:10.1017/S0094837300003778. S2CID 133114885.