Paleontologists have debated tempo and mode in morphological evolution observed in the fossil record. This article reviews methods for analyzing the rate of morphological evolution and stratophenetic series as well as relevant case studies in recent paleontology. Quaternary sediments often contain a well-preserved fossil record with precise chronological data. This review comments on a recent analytical method based on statistical model selection with a case study on a diatom in Lake Biwa using the method.

The author reviews sclerochronological and oxygen isotope analysis of marine bivalve shells in order to examine high-resolution Holocene paleoceanographic changes. In that review, I emphasize case studies from extremely long-lived Arctica islandica, the shallow-water clam Phacosoma japonicum and submarine cavernicolous micro-bivalve Carditella iejimensis.