"Evolutionary Rate" from Natural Selection

This his something I can't recall every reading about, but I've been
recently considering.

Going back to the beginnings of the evolutionary process and the forces of
natrual selection on Earth, does it not make sense that the rate at which
new species appear would have increased over time? What I mean is, starting
from the simplest examples of a multi-cellular organism, doing it's thing,
reproducing and passing on traits, mutating and increasing genetic
variation, being acted upon by natual selection which choses the fittest,
etc... Over time in different enviroments populations follow different
enough paths that the generational products can be considered different
species. Now say the same process repeats and you get 4 species, then 8,
then 16, then... Down the road you end up with larger populations,
increasing the chances of mutations, and creating more "types of life" for
that natural selection to work with, you end up with more and more parallel
evolutionary processes all happening at the same time which increases the
rate of diversifcation.

I know this is an oversimplification, that every species does not spawn two
more, you may get several or none. I'm just thinking of how it took several
billion years to produce multi-cellular life but then only 500 million to
make it to the complex life of today. It seems to me that the rate of
diversity as a result of evolution would in fact increase with the diversity
itself.

Is this really the case or am I off base here?


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Relevant Pages

  • Re: "Evolutionary Rate" from Natural Selection
    ... > new species appear would have increased over time? ... > billion years to produce multi-cellular life but then only 500 million to ... > diversity as a result of evolution would in fact increase with the diversity ...
    (talk.origins)
  • Re: "Evolutionary Rate" from Natural Selection
    ... >> Going back to the beginnings of the evolutionary process and the forces ... >> new species appear would have increased over time? ... >> make it to the complex life of today. ... >> diversity as a result of evolution would in fact increase with the ...
    (talk.origins)
  • Re: "Evolutionary Rate" from Natural Selection
    ... Now say the same process repeats and you get 4 species, then 8, ... >>>>make it to the complex life of today. ... Some of them find an absolute diversity peak in the Miocene. ... >>>evolution is progressive. ...
    (talk.origins)
  • Re: "Evolutionary Rate" from Natural Selection
    ... >>new species appear would have increased over time? ... >>billion years to produce multi-cellular life but then only 500 million to ... >>diversity as a result of evolution would in fact increase with the diversity ... > exponential curve. ...
    (talk.origins)
  • Re: OT: Why ?
    ... > life and death that it seems to be to some. ... Understanding the evolutionary process allows us to ... Plagues and possible plagues ... And so you display curiousity yourself. ...
    (talk.origins)