Figure 2.

The diversity n of terrestrial plant families (filled circles) (12) plotted with the same geochemical data (open squares) of Fig. 1, beginning with the rise of land plants in the Silurian (425 Ma). The vertical axis for ɛ_toc again increases downward. The data track each other reasonably well after 370 Ma. The geologic time scale is the same as in Fig. 1. The diversity curve shown is the “minimal” curve of the plant family database; rough error bars may be inferred by comparison with the corresponding “maximal” curve. (Inset) The whitened sequence η_j(ɛ_toc) vs. η_j(n) obtained by prediction-error filtering. Squares and circles represent data before and after 370 Ma, respectively.