The hypothesis of the Great Evolutionary Faunas is a foundational concept of macroevolutionary research postulating that three global mega-assemblages have dominated Phanerozoic oceans following abrupt biotic transitions. Empirical estimates of this large-scale pattern depend on several methodological decisions and are based on approaches unable to capture multiscale dynamics of the underlying Earth-Life System. Combining a multilayer network representation of fossil data with a multilevel clustering that eliminates the subjectivity inherent to distance-based approaches, we demonstrate that Phanerozoic oceans sequentially harbored four global benthic mega-assemblages. Shifts in dominance patterns among these global marine mega-assemblages are abrupt (end-Cambrian 494 Ma; end-Permian 252 Ma) or protracted (mid-Cretaceous 129 Ma), and represent the three major biotic transitions in Earth's history. This finding suggests that the mid-Cretaceous radiation of the so-called Modern evolutionary Fauna, concurrent with gradual ecological changes associated with the Mesozoic Marine Revolution, triggered a biotic transition comparably to the transition following the largest extinction event in the Phanerozoic. Overall, our study supports the notion that both long-term ecological changes and major geological events have played crucial roles in shaping mega-assemblages that dominated Phanerozoic oceans.

中文翻译：

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多生代化石记录的多尺度视图揭示了三个主要的生物过渡

大进化动物区系的假说是宏观进化研究的基础概念，它假定在突然的生物过渡之后，三个全球大型组合主导了生代海洋。对这种大规模模式的经验估计取决于几种方法学上的决定，并且基于无法捕获基本地球生命系统多尺度动态的方法。将化石数据的多层网络表示与消除基于距离的方法固有的主观性的多层次聚类相结合，我们证明了幻影时代的海洋相继隐含了四个全球底栖巨型组合。在这些全球海洋巨型组合中，优势模式的变化是突然的（寒武纪末494 Ma；二叠纪末期252 Ma）或长期的（白垩纪中值为129 Ma），并代表了地球历史上的三个主要生物转变。这一发现表明，所谓的现代进化动物区的白垩纪中期辐射，以及与中生代海洋革命有关的逐渐的生态变化，引发了与生代时代最大灭绝事件相比的生物过渡。总体而言，我们的研究支持以下观点：长期的生态变化和重大地质事件都在塑造占主导地位的古生代海洋的大型组合过程中发挥了关键作用。触发了生物变迁，与变色生代最大的灭绝事件后的变迁相当。总体而言，我们的研究支持以下观点：长期的生态变化和重大地质事件都在塑造占主导地位的古生代海洋的大型组合过程中发挥了关键作用。触发了生物变迁，与变色生代最大的灭绝事件后的变迁相当。总体而言，我们的研究支持以下观点：长期的生态变化和重大地质事件都在塑造占主导地位的古生代海洋的大型组合过程中发挥了关键作用。