DECOUPLED TEMPORAL PATTERNS OF EVOLUTION AND ECOLOGY IN 2 POSTPALEOZOIC CLADES

Counts of taxonomic diversity are the prevailing standards for documen ting Large-scall patterns of evolution in the fossil record, However, the secular pattern of relative ecological importance between the bryo zoan clades Cyclostomata and Cheilostomata is not reflected fully in c ompilations of generic diversity or within-fauna species richness, and the delayed ecological recovery of the Cheilostomata after the mass e xtinction at the Cretaceous-Tertiary boundary is missed entirely. Thes e observations demonstrate that evolutionary success and ecological do minance can be decoupled and profoundly different, even over tons of m illions of years.