Evolution in fossil time series reconciles observations in micro- and macroevolution

Extrapolating microevolutionary models does not always provide satisfactory explanations for phenotypic diversification on million-year time scales. For example, short-term evolutionary change is often modeled assuming a fixed adaptive landscape, but macroevolutionary changes are likely to involve changes in the adaptive landscape itself. A better understanding of how the adaptive landscape changes across different time intervals and how these changes cause populations to evolve has the potential to narrow the gap between micro- and macroevolution. Here, we analyze two fossil diatom time series of exceptional quality and resolution covering time intervals of a few hundred thousand years using models that account for different behaviors of the adaptive landscape. We find that one of the lineages evolves on a randomly and continuously changing landscape, whereas the other lineage evolves on a landscape that shows a rapid shift in the position of the adaptive peak of a magnitude that is ty..., , , # Title: Evolution in fossil time series reconciles observations in micro- and macroevolution

[https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.bk3j9kdmj](https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.bk3j9kdmj)

Authors: Kjetil Lysne Voje1, Megumi Saito-Kato2, Trisha L. Spanbauer3

1. Natural History Museum, P.O. 1172, Blindern, 0318 Oslo, Norway
2. Department of Geology and Paleontology, National Museum of Nature and Science, 4–1–1 Amakubo, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305–0005, Japan
3. Department of Environmental Science and Lake Erie Center, University of Toledo, Toledo, OH 43606, USA

[[e-mail]](mailto:[e-mail])

**Brief summary**: Using two high-quality fossil diatom time series, we study phenotypic evolution over several hundred thousand years by incorporating models that consider changes in the adaptive landscape.

Responsible for data collection: MS-K, TLS

The data was first published in the following papers: 

Spanbauer, T. L., Fritz, S. C. & Baker, P. A. 2018. Punctuated changes in the morphology ...,