Evolution of biological complexity and its relation to taxonomic longevity in the Ammonoidea

Research Article| November 01, 1992 Evolution of biological complexity and its relation to taxonomic longevity in the Ammonoidea George Boyajian; George Boyajian 1Department of Geology, University of Pennsylvania, 240 South 33rd Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104-6316 Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Tim Lutz Tim Lutz 2Department of Geology and Astronomy, West Chester University, West Chester, Pennsylvania 19383 Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Author and Article Information George Boyajian 1Department of Geology, University of Pennsylvania, 240 South 33rd Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104-6316 Tim Lutz 2Department of Geology and Astronomy, West Chester University, West Chester, Pennsylvania 19383 Publisher: Geological Society of America First Online: 02 Jun 2017 Online ISSN: 1943-2682 Print ISSN: 0091-7613 Geological Society of America Geology (1992) 20 (11): 983–986. https://doi.org/10.1130/0091-7613(1992)020<0983:EOBCAI>2.3.CO;2 Article history First Online: 02 Jun 2017 Cite View This Citation Add to Citation Manager Share Icon Share Facebook Twitter LinkedIn MailTo Tools Icon Tools Get Permissions Search Site Citation George Boyajian, Tim Lutz; Evolution of biological complexity and its relation to taxonomic longevity in the Ammonoidea. Geology 1992;; 20 (11): 983–986. doi: https://doi.org/10.1130/0091-7613(1992)020<0983:EOBCAI>2.3.CO;2 Download citation file: Ris (Zotero) Refmanager EasyBib Bookends Mendeley Papers EndNote RefWorks BibTex toolbar search Search Dropdown Menu toolbar search search input Search input auto suggest filter your search All ContentBy SocietyGeology Search Advanced Search Abstract The increase in biological complexity over evolutionary time has been the subject of extensive study and many hypotheses, but there are few data to document the increase or how organisms may have benefited by becoming more complex. By measuring the fractal dimension of the sutures of >600 ammonoid genera, we document the increase in anatomical complexity of the Ammonoidea and show that there is no differential survival between simple and complex forms. Simple sutures are present throughout the entire history of the Ammonoidea, but the range of variation of suture complexity increased over time as more complex sutures evolved. This content is PDF only. Please click on the PDF icon to access. First Page Preview Close Modal You do not have access to this content, please speak to your institutional administrator if you feel you should have access.