On New Approaches in the Study of Evolution of Macrotaxa and the Concept of Econ

Abstract

The modern attention to global and system approaches to the study of life evolution increase the interest in integrating macroevolutionary and ecological research and developing their theoretical foundations. The econ of species is suggested as an elementary fundamental unit of evolving paleobiospheric spatiotemporal continuum. The concept of econ, the unity of species and its ecological niche, allows solving issues of evolution of biodiversity, evolutionary macroecology and biogeography on spatiotemporal scales and in the framework of the system macrotaxon–biosphere. These studies need to be based on actual taxa. Therefore, a natural classification of organisms, reflecting true phylogeny, is of particular relevance. A holistic approach will allow obtaining more substantiated conclusions on the evolution and distribution of both fossil and modern organisms.