This is a quantitative paleontological sampling problem: given a matrix showing which fossil species were recorded ('X') in each time interval between their first and last documented occurrences, with blank cells representing gaps (inferred absence in the stratigraphic record despite the species' presumed continued existence across its full range), the overall sampling probability is estimated as the total number of observed occurrences (X marks) divided by the total number of possible occurrence opportunities (the sum of each species' full time-range, i.e., observed occurrences plus gaps).
For each fossil species, its full inferred range extends from its first to its last recorded occurrence (marked 'X') in the matrix; any blank cell...
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