David Raup

David Raup and his colleague Jack Sepkoski published a seminal 1984 paper proposing that mass extinctions follow a periodic cycle of roughly 26 million years. Their statistical analysis helped define the Big Five mass extinction events in Earth's history.

Raup was a pioneer in applying quantitative and computational methods to paleontology, transforming it into a more rigorous mathematical science. He used computer modeling to simulate the growth and shapes of various mollusk shells.

Yes, Raup was a strong early proponent of the Alvarez hypothesis, which posits that an asteroid impact caused the Cretaceous-Paleogene extinction. He argued that extraterrestrial impacts were likely responsible for other periodic mass extinctions as well.

Raup spent significant portions of his career teaching at the University of Rochester and the University of Chicago. He also served as the curator of geology at the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago.