Four neocatastrophist claims about mass extinction are currently being debated; they are that: 1, the late Cretaceous mass extinction was caused by large body impact; 2, as many as five other major extinctions were caused by impact; 3, the timing of extinction events since the Permian is uniformly periodic; and 4, the ages of impact craters on Earth are also periodic and in phase with the extinctions. Although strongly interconnected the four claims are independent in the sense that none depends on the others. Evidence for a link between impact and extinction is strong but still needs more confirmation through bed-by-bed and laboratory studies. An important area for future research is the question of whether extinction is a continuous process, with the rate increasing at times of mass extinctions, or whether it is episodic at all scales. If the latter is shown to be generally true, then species are at risk of extinction only rarely during their existence and catastrophism, in the sense of isolated events of extreme stress, is indicated. This is line of reasoning can only be considered an hypothesis for testing. In a larger context, paleontologists may benefit from a research strategy that looks to known Solar System and Galactic phenomena for predictions about environmental effects on earth. The recent success in the recognition of Milankovitch Cycles in the late Pleistocene record is an example of the potential of this research area.

中文翻译：

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大规模灭绝：评论。

目前正在辩论四种有关新物种灭绝的新人类行为学主张。它们是：1，白垩纪晚期生物大灭绝是由大的身体撞击引起的；2，其他多达五种主要的灭绝是由影响造成的；3，由于二叠纪是均匀周期性的，因此灭绝事件的时间；和4，撞击坑在地球上的年龄也是周期性的，并且与灭绝同相。尽管这四项权利要求相互联系紧密，但它们在任何方面都不相互依赖的意义上是独立的。影响与灭绝之间存在联系的证据很充分，但仍需逐床和实验室研究进一步证实。未来灭绝的一个重要领域是灭绝是否是一个连续的过程，其灭绝速度是在大规模灭绝时增加的，还是在所有尺度上都是偶发的。如果证明后者大体上是正确的，那么就物种而言，只有在极少数情况下才存在灭绝的危险，并且从孤立的极端胁迫事件的意义上说，是灾难性的。这是推理的路线，只能视为测试的假设。在更大的范围内，古生物学家可能会受益于一项研究策略，该策略可利用已知的太阳系和银河现象来预测地球对环境的影响。最近在更新世记录中认识到米兰科维奇循环的成功是该研究领域潜力的一个例子。这是推理的路线，只能视为测试的假设。在更大的范围内，古生物学家可能会受益于一项研究策略，该策略可利用已知的太阳系和银河现象来预测地球对环境的影响。最近在更新世记录中认识到米兰科维奇循环的成功是该研究领域潜力的一个例子。这是推理的路线，只能视为测试的假设。在更大的范围内，古生物学家可能会受益于一项研究策略，该策略可利用已知的太阳系和银河现象来预测地球对环境的影响。最近在更新世记录中认识到米兰科维奇循环的成功是该研究领域潜力的一个例子。