Redefinition of Natural Taxa in Terms of Evolutionary Mechanics

Macroevolutionary analysis evaluating structural monophyly as descent with modification allows recasting of taxa in terms of physics, here named evolutionary mechanics. There are four natural taxa: the species, genus, lineage and metalineage, each modeling distinctive evolutionary processes. The species is the smallest group whose traits exclude a two-sigma conduit of uncertainty through spacetime and otherwise are demonstrably active in processes at the genus level. The genus is a complex engine using the Rule of Four and the Pareto Fractal Dimension to fashion and control changes over time in minimally monophyletic groups. A Rule of Eight for extinction is based on exhaustion of kinetic energy. The lineage is modeled as a caulogram, a stem-taxon tree of present-day species and genera arranged in timelike sequence. The metalineage is an informationally structured n-tuple set of caulograms for one lineage as calculated at successive times in the past following a strict morphological clock. Values associated with evolutionary processes are calculated and compared for two bryophyte lineages at species, genus and lineage levels. These comparisons include Punctuational Impulse, Constant of Resistance, Efficiency Ratio, and Evolutionary Force, as well as analogues of classical mechanics: evolutionary distance, velocity, acceleration, force, work, and kinetic energy. Metalineages reveal sustained similar numbers of species across ca. 100 million years.