[DSRP Evidence](https://dsrpevidence.org/)

# From radiation to provinces: spatial scaling of Cambrian diversity

Na et al., 2026, Geological Society, London, Special Publications — Evolutionary Biology

Patterns: [Distinctions](https://dsrpevidence.org/pattern/distinctions), [Systems](https://dsrpevidence.org/pattern/systems)

## In short

The global diversity 'whole' is not simply the hierarchical sum of its regional 'parts'; it is a system whose identity depends on turnover among semi-independent provinces, and demonstrating this required drawing sharp distinctions between endemic and non-endemic, differentiated regional faunas.

## What they found (results)

Analysis of global fossil-occurrence databases shows that global Cambrian diversity growth (Fortunian through Stage 3) was accompanied by early-established, persistent regional differentiation driven by taxonomic turnover among provinces rather than by hierarchical nesting of regional faunas.

These researchers were not testing DSRP. The finding is theirs; the correspondence to DSRP is drawn by this site.

[Source](https://doi.org/10.1144/gslspecpub2026-20)