Signor-Lipps effect

noun

The principle that due to the incompleteness of the fossil record, the earliest and latest known occurrences of a taxon will almost never represent the ages of the actual earliest and latest organisms belonging to it.

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Meanings

noun
  1. biologyThe principle that due to the incompleteness of the fossil record, the earliest and latest known occurrences of a taxon will almost never represent the ages of the actual earliest and latest organisms belonging to it.

Origin

Named after American paleontologists Philip Signor and Jere Lipps, who formally proposed it in 1982.

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Cite this entry
APA

Signor-Lipps effect. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Signor-Lipps%20effect

MLA

“Signor-Lipps effect.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Signor-Lipps%20effect. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Signor-Lipps effect,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Signor-Lipps%20effect.

Source: Signor-Lipps effect on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.