Re: "Cope's Rule" Put to the Test

[Dinogeorge@aol.com]

In a message dated 97-01-21 20:27:45 EST, tuckr@digital.net writes:

<< For a refreshingly accurate and readable news account of University of
Chicago paleontologist Dr. David Jablonski's 
 10-year study testing (and disproving) the validiy of  "Cope's rule"  ("the
body size of organisms in a particular evolutionary 
 lineage tends to increase over the long run"), see "The Evolution of Size"
at 
 
         http://www.nando.net/newsroom/ntn/health/012197/health27_25404.html
>>

I use a rather different form of Cope's rule: Large organisms tend to evolve
from smaller organisms rather than vice versa. The version of Cope's rule in
parentheses above is obviously false and never needed any kind of 10-year
study for disproof.