RESUMO
Analysis of middle Eocene to early, Oligocene calcareous and siliceous microfossils shows gradual biotic changes with no massive extinction event across the Eocene/Oligocene boundary. Biotic changes in the late Paleogene appear to reflect changing paleoclimatic and paleoceanographic conditions and do not support suggestions of a catastrophic biotic event caused by a bolide impact at the Eocenel Oligocene boundary.
RESUMO
Detailed analysis of evolutionary changes in a 10-million-year long Late Neogene lineage of planktonic foraminifera has revealed a pattern that is not consistent with either the gradualistic or the punctuational model of evolution. The lineage was in stasis over a considerable part of its total duration but underwent relatively rapid, but not geologically instantaneous, gradual morphologic change that did not lead to lineage splitting. The term punctuated gradualism is suggested for this evolutionary modality.