Climate history study: Cooling periods cause evolutionary surges

Temperatures on Earth have had a significant influence on the course of evolution. A particularly high number of new species of marine animals emerged after geologically short cooling periods that had already been preceded by a much longer cooling period. This is the conclusion reached by researchers from the BayCEER / Universities of Bayreuth and Erlangen-Nuremberg in a new study that has now been published in the journal PNAS. By combining empirical data and computer simulations, they have found that the influence of rapid climate change on biodiversity is significantly influenced by longer-lasting climate trends in previous periods of the Earth’s history.