A GOOD LOSER IS STILL A LOSER - COMPETITION AND THE SOUTH-AFRICAN FOSSIL RECORD

Competition has long been regarded as the force responsible for much o f the pattern of changing diversity in the fossil record. We present a series of arguments against this use of competition as an evolutionar y panacea. We begin by presenting a brief review of concepts and defin itions associated with competition, and outline why it has once again become contentious in current macroevolutionary debate. We discuss pro blems with its application to three aspects of macroevolutionary patte rn: 1) speciation and the origin of evolutionary novelties, 2) extinct ion, and 3) the geographic ranges of fossil organisms. We follow this with a review of some of the major events in the South African fossil record, all of which have been accounted for largely in terms of compe tition, and offer alternative explanations which we view as more likel y. We conclude that the effectiveness of competition as a force for ev olutionary change has not been demonstrated and continued recourse to it - at least in its current, rather nebulous form - to explain macroe volutionary pattern is a disservice to evolutionary theory.