The discovery challenges the idea that explosive evolution quickly follows mass extinctions. In the absence of competition, the common theory goes, surviving species hurry to adapt, evolving new physical attributes to take advantage of newly opened niches in the ecosystem. But that's not what researchers found in the fossil record of graptoloid evolution.
MORE: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/02/120213154055.htm
See also...
Ancient Seagrass Holds Secrets of the Oldest Living Organism On Earth
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/02/120207152545.htm
