# Peter Mayhew Back to [[Topics/Climate Change Science and Policy Debate/Climate Change Science and Policy Debate|Climate Change Science and Policy Debate]] · [[Topics/Climate Change Science and Policy Debate/Research and Evidence|Research and Evidence]] **Role:** Evolutionary ecologist, University of York; long-term climate–biodiversity studies. - Evolutionary ecologist at the University of York. - **Mayhew, Jenkins & Benton 2008, "A long-term association between global temperature and biodiversity, origination and extinction in the fossil record"**, *Proc. R. Soc. B* 275:47 ([doi](https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2007.1302)). Over ~520 Myr, global biodiversity was relatively low in warm "greenhouse" phases, and extinction and origination rates were relatively high. Temperature was a better predictor than CO₂. - This contradicts Clack's claim that high-carbon epochs "fostered some of the richest expansions of biosphere diversity". - Appears in: [[Users/@PeterDClack/Post Analyses/Post Analysis - PeterDClack on High-CO2 Epochs and Biodiversity (2026-10-23)|Oct 23 high-CO₂ epochs analysis]].