Rolling the dice with evolution: Massive extinction will have unpredictable consequences

New research by Macquarie University palaeobiologist, Dr John Alroy, predicts major changes to the rules of evolution as we understand them now. Those changes will have serious consequences for future biodiversity because no one can predict which groups will come to dominate after the current mass extinction.Alroy said today's extinction is due to a range of human behaviours and activities coupled with the effects of climate change. His findings were published this week in the international journal Science. Alroy, who works in the Department of Biological Sciences at the University, undertook his study while at University of California, Santa Barbara using the massive Paleobiology Database, which compiles data ...